Colorful Spirits
by momoxtoshiro
Summary: A senior quartet of seasoned martial artists decide to open their own school to pass on what they know to a new generation. Of their students, four girls in particular form a bond together, and embark on a journey that is physical, emotional, and spiritual. [Tae Kwon Do AU]. Happy RWBY Tuesday!
1. The First Step

**Written several months ago, it's finally time for my very own TKD AU (TaeKwonDo AU)! As most of you may know, I've been doing TKD for over 10 years now, so why not do a RWBY-fied spin off and share some of what I know in the process? :3**

 **Just know there are a LOT of elements to any martial art. Therefore, there's a lot to cover in this fic. A lot. And I'll gladly admit I don't feel my writing of it was very good, because there are a lot of characters and a lot of information to cover.**

 **All of this stuff makes sense to me, because I'm basing it off of my own school's teachings and style. But for people who have never done a martial art before, I understand this is going to be pretty confusing and hard to follow. So if it's too difficult to understand or get into, just turn the other cheek from it.**

 **The story focuses mainly on the four girls of team RWBY, but JNPR, CRDL, and CRME are in here as well.** **For this AU, there will be no Grimm, but there are Faunus.**

 **AUTHOR'S NOTE: The first part of the story will be backgrounds and descriptions of the current students. But then it will rewind to the time Ruby sees Yang's first test. After that, it will jump back into current time. Watch for the *** marks.**

 **A special thanks to fareon-the-wanderer! I hope you enjoy this story!**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own RWBY.**

* * *

Colorful Spirits

Chapter 1. The First Step

Master Ozpin's Taekwondo school was the only martial arts school in the town of Vale, and the only studio within surrounding towns.

Because of the convenient location of the building, combined with the excess of youths with little better to do with their time than look into such things, his business was booming to say the very least.

When he'd first opened the school with his vast expanse of knowledge in martial arts, he had hired some old friends as fellow teachers and instructors there. In his younger years of being a martial arts student himself, he had trained alongside Glynda, Peter, and Bartholomew. They had been together for well over thirty years, even after their own school's master had closed down their beloved childhood dojang and retired.

But the determined quartet hadn't simply given up on their training after that. Through hard work and the support of their family and fellows, they had saved up and raised enough money to eventually move and open a school of their own.

Now, their goal was to give those fond memories to a new generations of children, to allow them to form their own bonds and relationships with one another, as well as other students from foreign schools.

It was time to share what they had learned of the martial arts spirit with new, eager faces, to engrave their teachings into the very souls of their students, and to watch them progress, succeed, and grow along the way.

* * *

In the first month after opening, Ozpin's school had received a formidable number of students willing to try out the martial art.

Of the group of eleven, four students stood out to him above the others.

One was a Faunus girl named Velvet. Initially, she had appeared to be timid and reserved, but along with the support and encouragement of her friends and teachers, he could tell she would soon blossom into a patient, lively addition to his school.

Coco was another girl he'd watched closely; her confidence wasn't enough that it could be considered arrogance, but it was just enough to allow her to assist others in their training as well.

While Velvet preferred the slower-paced motions and movements of the forms, Coco liked to spar and kick, moving at fast paces and utilizing her surprising strength for a fifteen-year-old.

There was also a boy named Yatsuhashi, a tall, soft-spoken lad who followed after Velvet in the preference of forms. When the class was asked to choose partners for self-defense, Yatsuhashi and Velvet always ran to one another before any of the other students could get to them.

They had an unspoken chemistry and communicated more through their body language than through words. Whenever they performed the self-defense motions of take-downs or practiced striking the other, there was always a notable flow to their motions, a mutual understanding of how the other's body worked and moved best.

They were a gentle pair, but very strong in both mind and body.

Coco tended to select anyone available as her partner when she needed to, but there was a particular boy she partnered up with above all others.

His name was Fox, and Ozpin and his staff had known instantly the second he had signed up for classes that he was blind. The boy had had to instruct Coco to fill out his forms and had signed them himself with an uncertain hand. Ozpin had welcomed him with open arms, determined to boost his confidence in the craft, refusing to turn him down for what other schools might have considered a disability.

Right away, Fox had demonstrated incomparable poise and grace, unlike any student Ozpin himself had ever trained with before. He had a precise kick more so than a powerful one, which meant his breaking techniques were second to none in the school.

When holding a board for Fox, the instructor – be it Peter, Bartholomew, Glynda, or Ozpin himself – would ring a small bell just above the board to allow Fox to picture its location in his mind. Every hit was perfect and never failed to make the gathered crowds of students and family members burst into cheers.

When the four of them progressed and were old enough and of-rank to spar, Coco and Fox typically paired up. After giving the sparring classes a few trial runs, Velvet and Yatsuhashi decided it wasn't for them, but still attended the classes on the sidelines to support their companions.

Over the course of two years, Ozpin and his staff watched many students come and go as his business flourished, but only those four had stuck with him from opening day until now.

Naturally, there was a bond that formed between those students and the staff, which included but wasn't limited to playful teasing or making examples out of them for new students.

Ozpin was sure to let them show off to new arrivals, always ensuring Velvet and Yatsuhashi could demonstrate their forms and how well they stayed together in performing. Coco and Fox were always asked to demonstrate kicks and breaking techniques.

At present, they were only at the rank of orange belts, and all of them just fifteen years old. They had gone through all of their belt tests together and achieved each newer, higher rank as a team.

Just a few days after their testing day, the four walked onto the dojang in their white uniforms, proudly adorning bright new orange belts around their waists. They bowed to the displayed flags on the wall upon entering the studio, bare feet padding softly on the cushioned white floor.

Velvet was still giddy and excited as she looked over her new belt, and she constantly adjusted it to ensure each side was the same, even length.

The four of them were the highest-ranked students in the new school at the moment, and had been attending classes for just over a year. Ozpin and his staff had just celebrated their one-year anniversary of opening the school a few weeks ago, and since Velvet and her friends had joined, the school had received several new students.

In the class of orange belt students, there were also several yellow belts. There were currently no white belts, due to a lack of students enrolling for a few weeks. But a new beginning wave of ten students who had joined the no-belt class made it a fairly good number.

Once Ozpin had taken attendance, the class started with a short jog of several laps around the room as the speakers were turned on to produce modern, energizing, remixed music.

After a few minutes of warm-up jogging, they saluted and bowed to the flags, master, and instructors before beginning class.

Glynda - in her humble white uniform and contrasting black belt - took her place at the front of the dojang and led the usual stretching routine, starting with upper body and working her way down. The students followed her instructions and let out their voices to count the usual ten seconds to hold each stretch.

After stretches, it was fifteen or so minutes of kicking drills and exercise routines. Each student had their own exercise of preference, or just one they were particularly good at.

For Yatsuhashi it was push-ups, for Velvet it was anything that involved jumping or hurdles, for Fox it was sit-ups, and for Coco it was squats – mainly because those didn't involve messing up her hair or ruffling her uniform too much.

Presently, they trained with the few yellow belt students in class, among them were two boys whose names were Scarlet and Sage. They tended to keep together since they had started training at the same time.

Ozpin watched as his students trained together; this group was full of hard workers.

But his white belts were a bit of a rowdy bunch.

Cardin and his three friends had enrolled in the school together. Ozpin could instantly tell they had a lot to learn in terms of respect and discipline, and he intended to teach it to them.

Aside from the boys, there was a pair of girls in the white-belt class as well.

Blake, a young Faunus girl, was a hardworking girl. She was second to none in efficiency and grace when it came to her form. Despite the fact that it was one of the most basic - and therefore one of the easiest forms the school's curriculum had to offer - Blake could perform it in a way that made her appear to be almost professional.

Blake had joined classes together with her close friend Yang, a rambunctious though not destructive blonde who excelled with her basic kicking. Or at least she tried to. She wanted to be the best kicker in Ozpin's school, and with that goal in mind, she was working hard to get off to a good start to achieve that one day.

The no-belt students included two boys named Sun and Neptune, who seemed to have been brought into the sport by Scarlet and Sage at the age of thirteen. They were two of four of the students who had joined the school in the time after the most recent belt test. This ensured that group had trained longer than the rest, and would consequently test ahead of them.

Along with Sun and Neptune in the more advanced group of the no-belts, there were two female students as well.

There was a reserved, determined girl named Weiss. She was highly respectful and always put out her best efforts in all that she did. She was rather composed for her age, and tended to keep to herself. She only interacted with the instructors or one other red-haired girl in her level.

Pyrrha was the last of that group of four. She'd actually joined a few days before Sun and Neptune, and thus was the most learned of their little quartet of higher no-belts.

She was an admirable young girl, wise beyond her years, and she excelled in self-defense techniques as well as learning and being able to recite the mental knowledge. Within only the first few days of receiving her papers as a no-belt, she had memorized the mental curriculum almost perfectly.

For a few months, those four were the only no-belts, but after a time, a new group entered their classes, expanding their circle of friends.

Pyrrha often assisted the blond boy named Jaune who was nothing short of clumsy with just about anything and everything he did. Pyrrha knew she'd eventually split into the white belt class with Weiss, Sun, and Neptune and leave Jaune in the no-belt class.

But for now, she helped him out with his training. He was always tripping over himself or someone else, always forgetting his basic hand technique, and he had wobbly kicks. But what stood out about him more than anyone else was his inability to give up.

There was also Nora, a hyperactive girl whose energy levels were ideal for the sport. She excelled in her powerful kicking, and though she could do with a bit more thinking before she acted, the staff could tell she would develop into a fine sparrer when she was experienced enough.

Her companion Ren was a mellow boy who excelled in his basic form, never letting up his stances and demonstrating an impressive amount of self control for a boy his age.

Ren mirrored Blake in his natural fluency in his forms. Being a no-belt, he trained in the same class as Blake, who often worked together with him.

The no-belts and white belts trained together in the same class under Glynda and Peter, while Ozpin and Bartholomew typically handled the higher-ranking students.

But even outside of their forty-five minute classes, the students helped one another when they could.

These were children who weren't simply classmates in martial arts, but good friends off the dojang mats as well. The majority of them were helpful to one another and always strived to do their best to better themselves and others.

Such were the kind of morals Ozpin taught at his school and searched for in his students.

He had certainly gotten an interesting group in his first year of opening his school, that much was for sure.

Ever since her older sister had started attending taekwondo lessons with her friend, Ruby's interest in the activity had increased substantially.

Their father always drove Yang to her classes twice a week and would pick up Blake as well. It just seemed like so much fun, to be able to participate in a sport not connected to their high school, one with its own schedules and classes that allowed people to choose what days they wished to attend.

Yang was always coming home telling stories of the things she'd learned that day, showing off her hand techniques to Ruby and their parents or demonstrating a kick or two in the living room. Ruby watched in amazement every time, gawking in admiration.

"Yang, you're so coooool!" she'd say.

"I know, I know," was the response. "Master Ozpin is a really great guy! And Head Instructor Goodwitch is kinda bossy, but she's great at what she does! She just taught me my self-defense technique today! Here, lemme show you!"

She'd had Ruby grab her wrist and quickly escaped the hold with an efficient twist that rendered her little sister speechless.

Yang's bragging about what she'd learned every day was certainly a big part of what had sparked Ruby's interest in the sport.

But the main event was when her parents had driven her over to the dojang to witness Yang's first belt test.

The studio alone captivated Ruby the first time she saw it.

It was spacious and colorful, with various words like "honesty," "respect" and "indomitable spirit" printed on the walls. There were also creeds and other paragraphs of mental knowledge. Looking up, she recognized some of the words as ones Yang had been practicing at home for the past few weeks in preparation for her test.

Ruby also glimpsed the other students.

There were some kids with orange belts and some with yellow belts, all of them dressed in the traditional white uniform and pants with black collars. They were practicing with some adults who wore similar clothes, but who had black belts.

Ruby marveled at those. She had watched official sports competitions before and seen black belt students in action. She bet that these people could do awesome spinning and jumping kicks, too.

She really wanted to see it, but even more than that, she wanted to learn for herself.

As the test began, she sat on the sidelines of the studio and watched Yang, dressed in her white uniform with no belt secured around her waist. Together with Blake and several other no-belts, they began their test.

The woman Ruby knew as Glynda was in charge of leading the test, whereas the man she knew to be Master Ozpin was sitting at the front of the room at a large table to observe. He seemed to be judging the people who were testing today, always writing things down on papers and asking them specific questions.

Ruby watched eagerly with her parents as Yang completed the first few parts of the test alongside Blake.

First were the hand techniques Yang had shown Ruby at home multiple times, and next was a short combination of kicks, followed by the wrist-grab self-defense techniques.

But next was where Yang choked up a bit.

The people testing were asked by Glynda to kneel down, and Ozpin asked them to recite several different bits of mental knowledge.

Yang had studied – Ruby had helped her with that much – but the blonde simply froze up. Her jaw hung slack and trembling as her mind went blank under pressure, and the only voice in the room was Blake's quiet one.

Even the Faunus girl stumbled over a few parts, but at least she'd said something, unlike Yang.

Ozpin had simply given a nod as he'd told them to stand and continue with the last part of their test.

They needed to break a board of wood with a specific technique, the one for no-belts being a simple punch. Blake broke hers in half on the first try.

And Yang shattered hers into six separate pieces.

The crowds of supporters, friends, and family members burst into cheers for her.

After that, Yang gave her wood pieces to her sister. She gave her mother and father brief hugs, then opened her arms for Ruby. The brunette threw herself at Yang and wished her sister luck for the ending of the test.

After that, Ruby sat with the wood pieces, holding them in her lap eagerly as she watched the final part of the test.

Yang stood beside Blake and her other classmates as Ozpin rose from his seat and presented them with their new belts. Glynda and the other two instructors tied the belts onto the students' waists.

Despite her mishap with reciting the mental knowledge, Yang was standing tall and proud at this point.

The moment she felt Glynda slip that brand new white belt around her waist and tie it in the front...

It was an indescribable feeling, more than just accomplishment or pride. It was proof of this crucial beginning step, proof that she'd made it this far and _earned_ it.

It wasn't a feeling she'd ever forget.

Ruby could see that sparkle in her big sister's eyes, and she could only wonder what it felt like. She wanted to experience that, too.

Along with their belts, Yang and Blake also received small trophies for achieving their first rank. Once the test was officially over, they stayed behind for a group picture of the students with the staff. The parents and relatives all stood and gathered to take photos.

When they were finished, Ozpin proudly announced the test was over and dismissed the students.

At last, Yang ran across the room to her family and hugged all three of them at once. Her parents patted her head and congratulated her as Ruby squeezed her sister in a tight hug.

Blake had gone to her own parents, shining with a subtle air of joy, her ears perked tall and a smile on her face as she presented her trophy. They smiled back and pulled her into their arms.

Yang charged over to her next and hugged the Faunus girl, spinning her around once before setting her down again. "We did it!" she cheered. "We got our first belts, Blake!"

"I'm aware," she chuckled. "Now we'll learn a whole new set of curriculum together starting next week. I can't wait!"

"Yeah! It's gonna be awesome!"

The two families decided to go out together for supper that evening. Yang and Blake changed out of their uniforms in the girls' changing rooms behind the dojang, and together the families headed outside.

Ruby could only marvel at the school as they walked out, and her eyes flashed over to meet the master's gaze. He smiled at her from behind his glasses, and Ruby couldn't help but feel that it was more of an invitation. His eyes seemed to say: "I'll see you again soon."

So Ruby discussed it with her family that night, after they'd gotten home and parted ways with the Belladonna family. She told them how much of an interest she'd taken to taekwondo since Yang had started lessons and asked if she could train alongside her sister.

Her parents were thrilled to hear she wanted to try out the sport, but had to refuse her.

"I'm sorry, Ruby," her mother said gently. "But just for a few more months. We're a bit tight on money right now, so we can't pay for your lessons right away. Can you wait just a little while longer?"

Ruby only continued to smile.

"Yeah! That's okay! Of course! Even if I have to wait, I _can_ still do it though, right?"

"Of course," her father promised.

"Yaaaayy! Thank you, thank yooouu!" Ruby threw her arms around them both, and Yang patted her back.

"Until you start, I can train you in all the no-belt curriculum! So when you get to class, you'll already know everything!"

"Ehhh but then I'll be so boooored!" Ruby whined. "Besides, you'd probably teach it wrong, Yang. I wanna learn from Head Instructor Goodwitch. She's so cool!"

"Hey, I'm cool too!" Yang protested.

The two sisters engaged in a squabble of noogies and grapples for a while, laughing all the while.

* * *

From then on, their father drove Ruby, Yang, and Blake to taekwondo classes, even though all Ruby did was watch the others train. Yang, Blake, and their fellow white belts started learning their new curriculum.

Their other classmates were a group of boys who seemed rather bored with everything, always acting out or disrupting the class. Glynda had to stop repeatedly to give them push-ups or pull them aside to speak with them privately. Ruby didn't like them. She couldn't focus on the class, and she wasn't even _taking_ it!

Once the class had ended, Yang and Blake changed out of their uniforms in the back, then returned to Ruby and her father.

"Geez..." the brunette muttered. "Are those guys always like that?"

"Yes, unfortunately..." Blake muttered. "I thought maybe they'd quit after getting their white belts, but I guess they're still here."

"Master Ozpin must've given them a thousand push-ups in their first month here," Yang growled. "But those dumb boys don't ever learn. I think we should change our days and start coming some other time. Even if we still have to test with them in a few months, I don't wanna be in every class with _those_ troublemakers."

On the car ride back, Yang and Ruby's father discussed changing their class days. He stopped the car at Blake's house and dropped her off, and that was when Yang brought up her real issue with Cardin and his friends.

"They're always making fun of Blake," she grumbled. "Since day one they've been saying stuff like 'Faunus can't do martial arts! You're not even human! Go play your own stupid sport!' and crap like that! She got really upset one day and just sat in the changing room crying and didn't even take class! I don't want to have to keep going to class on the same days as them! I wanna have fun training with Blake!"

Her frustrations were soon pacified by her understanding father, and he agreed to change their schedule so they could attend class on different days than the rowdy boys. Ruby was glad for that; when she started training, she didn't want to be anywhere near them.

The next time Yang tested for a belt - her yellow belt - Ruby was on the sidelines again.

But this would be the last time, because next time, she'd be _on_ the dojang _with_ her sister.

The orange belts were actually testing as well, and Ruby eagerly observed the peculiar group as Glynda led their test. Ruby had learned their names by now, and she was astounded to see what they were capable of.

The rabbit Faunus Velvet and her friend Yatsuhashi were very good with their form, while Coco was kicking far above her head and even above Glynda's for their kicking techniques. But most impressive of all was the blind boy Fox when he performed his breaking.

Ruby watched as the room fell instantly silent. Instructor Port was holding the board for Fox, ringing a small bell just above the wood. Fox positioned himself in a crouch before giving a short yell, and with a swift jump into the air, his foot flashed out and broke the board cleanly in half.

The audience erupted in cheers, and Ruby even jumped up from where she'd been sitting on the floor, clapping enthusiastically. She caught Coco's eye, and the older girl smirked and winked at her. Ruby grinned and sat back down.

The orange belt group moved up to receive their green belts, and the two boys Scarlet and Sage went from yellow to orange.

Blake and Yang tested along with Cardin and his friends. Yang frowned when Blake was called up and told to stand in the spot beside Cardin, but the Faunus girl was focused on her test, not her tormentor.

They performed their basic hand techniques, followed by their kicking techniques. The instructors held hand targets for them to kick, and the students showed off the basic front-snap, roundhouse, and ax kicks.

Ruby watched them all, and was amused to see how every person had one specific kick they seemed to be best at.

For Blake, it was ax kick, and for Yang it was definitely roundhouse, even though most people her level found difficulties with that kick.

But the boys didn't even try – all of their kicks looked the same, kind of purposefully sloppy.

 _But maybe that's for the best_ , Ruby thought. _They're just making Yang and Blake look even better!_

For their self-defense, Yang was relieved that she was chosen to be Blake's partner. It usually worked out that way since it was best to pair up people of similar height and sex whenever possible, but sometimes during class, Blake had inevitably ended up with Cardin or one of the other boys for one reason or another.

She hated being touched by them, and they always squeezed her wrist unnecessarily hard. And whenever it was Blake's turn to attack, Cardin always ended up actually hitting her with his counterattack, rather than stopping a few inches short of making contact like they were supposed to.

But now, Blake and Yang worked infinitely better with one another, never grabbing too hard or hitting one another, even by accident.

Had Cardin been just another bully at school for Blake, she was permitted to use her self-defense if he ever physically attacked her first. But it was difficult when her tormentor was a martial artist as well, and was even taking classes in the studio where she came to feel safe.

Even so, she vowed to become stronger in both mind and body, until the day could arrive when she didn't need to flinch upon seeing him anymore.

Yang was determined to help her get there, and she'd do whatever it took.

Blake completed the physical portions of the test without having to touch or look at Cardin or his lackeys. She did well with reciting the mental knowledge as well – in fact, she was the only one who did.

Yang _knew_ it, but she couldn't remember anymore, and ended up just mumbling incoherent things. She bit her lip and didn't look up. This was the second time it had happened during her tests; she didn't want to keep humiliating herself like this.

Ruby sighed as she was forced to watch her sister struggle. She knew Yang had these things memorized – she'd heard her recite everything in the car and in her room. But the pressure of being watched and graded simply got to her again.

Even so, when the test finished up with their board breaking, Yang broke hers on the first try, using an ax kick this time. Blake also aimed perfectly, while the boys needed to redo their breaks a few times.

Finally, they were presented with their yellow belts by the instructors and master.

Yang and Blake ran to their families and hugged them again, adorning new medals with yellow ribbons around their necks. Ruby jumped into her sister's lap the moment she sat down on the floor beside her.

They decided to stick around for the final test - the new, current no-belts who were getting their white belts today.

The next time there was a belt test, it would be Ruby standing up there.

The thought excited her to no end, and she had to bite her tongue to keep from squealing as the people testing were called to their spots on the mat.

There were four no-belts wearing the usual white, long-sleeved uniform and pants, two boys and two girls. The tallest boy had blue hair, and the shorter one had spiky blonde hair and a Faunus tail. Ruby noticed how Sage and Scarlet were cheering them on, and they kept grinning at one another. Glynda called their names as Neptune and Sun.

One of the girls had long red hair tied into a ponytail, and her smile was bright and confident. She looked very pleased to have made it to her first test, and she was called Pyrrha.

But Ruby was most intrigued by the other girl.

Her hair was also tied into a ponytail, but it was snow-white in color. There was a small pink scar over her left eye. She seemed refined, confident, and very, _very_ serious about her test today.

Glynda called her Weiss.

All the while, and as soon as they began, the girl never cracked a smile or looked over at her parents, as most testing students tended to do.

Rather than sit along the sidelines of the dojang's matted floor like other families, Ruby saw that this girl's father and presumably and elder sister were seated on the carpeted area on two of the chairs there. The man looked stern and unmoved, eyes fixated on his daughter.

Sun and Neptune would flash smiles at their friends and family, but Weiss kept her gaze directly ahead, never once taking her eyes off of Glynda or Ozpin.

Ruby watched the two girls and boys go through the same routine Yang and Blake had gone through a few months back.

Sun was best at the hand technique, making every motion fast and powerful.

Neptune kicked the highest of the four of them, though Weiss was definitely straining to do her best as well.

They were partnered up for their self-defense, and though the others performed it correctly, Pyrrha was the fastest and most precise.

Throughout the test, Ruby managed to catch all of their gazes at least once, all except for Weiss. She didn't even look back at her own father and sister.

Ruby didn't know why she was so drawn to that white-haired girl; maybe it was because she seemed to be taking this test as though it were a life-or-death situation. She didn't seem to be having a lot of fun.

When it came time for the mental knowledge portion, Weiss raised her voice louder than every one of her classmates. She recited everything perfectly, word-for-word, her voice clear and enunciating.

Every question Ozpin asked her was answered swiftly and respectfully, with a confident gaze and a straightforward tone. He nodded approvingly at Weiss in particular.

Her kicks and forms might not have been perfect, but her mental knowledge was second to none.

Ruby knew by now that of all the curriculum taught and practiced at the school, the mental knowledge was what students tended to neglect. But even as a no-belt, Weiss had recited and answered everything perfectly, better than Blake or even Yatsuhashi.

Ruby was really impressed. Everyone was.

The breaking portion was up next. The technique for no-belts was a downward punch.

Sun broke first, making quick work of splitting the board, as did Neptune.

Pyrrha also made it look rather easy; despite the fact that the board was an inch thick, she was rather well-muscled and coordinated for a fourteen-year-old girl.

But when it came Weiss' turn to break, her first hit didn't split the board. Her shout cut off into a bitten-back whimper, but she did her best not to show the pain in her expression.

Yang and Blake both winced at the sound it made.

"Ouch..." Blake muttered. "That really hurts. Especially on your hand."

"But she's not giving up," Yang added. "That's what's most important."

Ruby's eyes flashed to Weiss, who had bowed to Ozpin respectfully.

"Sir! May I please try again?" she requested.

Ozpin nodded calmly.

"Of course. That was just a warm-up, I'm sure."

Ruby watched as Weiss took a deep breath. Ruby's eyes quickly flashed back to the other girl's father. He looked angry that Weiss hadn't broken the board on her first try.

 _Geez, give her a chance!_ Ruby shouted in her mind. _She's just a no-belt! Even the higher ranks miss their boards sometimes!_

After her second shout, Weiss tried her punch once more. This time, she broke through the board, splitting it cleanly in half.

Pyrrha was the first to cheer for her before the rest of the crowd could begin, but Ruby was sure to join in shortly afterward. She couldn't help but look to Weiss' father again, but he wasn't even smiling, let alone clapping.

Yang peeked over her shoulder to look at the man as well.

"Geez, what a hard-ass."

"Yang!"

"Well he _is!_ " she whispered. "This stuffs not easy for someone our age, especially not a kid who's under so much pressure from her grouchy dad like _she_ is."

"Still..." Ruby said. "It's like you said. It's best that she didn't give up. I'm glad she broke her board."

After breaking, the students were supposed to present their broken boards to their parents, and Weiss was doing that now.

She was sweating a bit from all the effort and energy she'd spent during her test, and Ruby watched her rush over to where her father and sister were sitting.

Sun, Neptune, and Pyrrha were all hugged and congratulated by their parents and siblings, but not Weiss. Her father didn't touch her breaking board or say a word to her. Weiss left him and her sister and hurried back to the dojang to be awarded her first belt and trophy.

Once everyone had been given their new belts, Ozpin called for a group photo of all the students who had tested that day.

Yang and Blake got up to show off their medals and colored belts, alongside the new white, yellow, orange, and now green belts.

Coco and her friends were still the highest-ranked students in the school, and Ruby couldn't wait to start training under them next week. But she wouldn't be in class with the color belts, only other no-belts and white belts.

Since she knew she'd soon be classmates with them, Ruby made sure to say hello to Sun, Neptune, and Pyrrha. They were all very nice to her, saying things like "Awesome! See you around, Ruby!" and "See ya next week in class!" and "I look forward to training with you!" respectively.

But when she went up to Weiss, the girl had turned her back already and was making her way toward the changing room. Ruby hurried after her.

"H-Hey, um, Weiss?"

The girl froze at the sound of her name, turning back to look at Ruby with calculating eyes.

"Who are _you?_ " she demanded.

"Oh, right! My name's Ruby! I'm Yang's sister, and I'm gonna be starting classes here next week! I'm so excited! I can't wait! Even if you're a rank above me, we're gonna be in the same class!"

"Wonderful..." Weiss sighed. It didn't sound convincing at all.

Ruby tried to maintain her smile.

"I just wanted to say I think you did really great today!"

Weiss huffed and looked away.

"No I didn't. I missed my breaking. Everyone knows it's best to get it on the first try."

"But you still broke it! What's important is that you never gave up! And you were really respectful when you asked to try again. Not to mention you were _so_ good with the mental knowledge stuff!"

Weiss' eyes widened just a bit, and her gaze slowly moved back up to Ruby's. It was the first time the younger girl realized just how brilliantly blue they were.

Weiss' voice grew quieter.

"You may say that..." she mumbled. "But to my father, I failed today."

"No you didn't!" Ruby protested. "That's just silly! If you failed, then you wouldn't be wearing your white belt right now! You wouldn't be holding that trophy in your hand! You trained hard to pass today and you _did!_ You deserve it!"

Weiss held her gaze for a moment, surprised to be hearing such things from a girl who was clearly younger and less experienced than herself.

"Maybe..." she muttered.

"Not 'maybe'! It's the truth, Weiss!"

"Alright!" Weiss hissed. "Just hush! It's fine... maybe I do deserve it..."

"That's right! Of course you do! You worked hard for it! So don't give up! I'll be in class with you next week!"

"...You're really going to join?"

"Yeah! I was gonna join a few months ago but we didn't have the money at the time, but now we do! So I'm starting next week! I'll see you then! Maybe you can help me and Yang with all the mental stuff. That's kinda hard for us..."

Weiss was silent for a moment, as though considering the suggestion. At last, she gave a small nod, and even the faintest of smiles.

"So long as you don't distract me too much from my own training, I'd be more than willing to help."

"Really? That's great! Thank you, Weiss! See you next week!"

With a wave, Ruby hurried off back into the dojang to return to her family.

She didn't know it at the time, but she'd helped Weiss in more ways than one that day, and she'd be seeing a lot more of her in the future.

* * *

As promised, Ruby started classes at Ozpin's school the following week.

She received her white uniform and tried it on immediately, so excited she forgot to close the door to the changing room. Blake had to rush to shut it for her before Ruby started changing out of her clothes.

Yang helped her adjust the uniform and roll up the ends of her sleeves and pants.

Once she was ready to wait at the edge of the dojang for class to begin, Ruby made sure to bow to Ozpin and all of the instructors in greeting. There were other no-belts there as well who would be Ruby's classmates.

There was a blond boy named Jaune who seemed exceedingly nervous, even though he'd already been taking classes for a while. Together with him was a girl named Nora and another boy named Ren.

Pyrrha, Sun, and Neptune were preparing for their combined class as well. Pyrrha was briefing Jaune and giving him little tidbits of advice for some of his curriculum. Nora was repeatedly butting in on the conversation while Ren listened quietly, keeping his eyes on Glynda and waiting for her to invite them all onto the dojang. Sun and Neptune were practicing their kicks and stretches together.

But Ruby found herself alone.

Blake and Yang were there, as were the green and orange belts, but they were waiting together in groups for their own class to start after this one.

Ruby's eyes naturally traveled to the last person present, the one who wasn't talking to others or stretching.

Weiss was kneeling properly at the edge of the dojang, back straight and eyes forward as she waited for the command to come inside. With a grin, Ruby crawled over to sit beside her.

"Hi, Weiss!"

The girl flashed her an unamused, sidelong glance.

"Hush. Class is about to begin."

"Oh! Right! Sorry~"

She knelt beside Weiss and waited for the order to stand and come inside.

They started with jogging around the dojang, followed by some basic exercises like jumping-jacks and push-ups. Then it was kicking and punching drills.

Ruby observed her classmates and their techniques. Sun and Neptune had the strongest punches, though Weiss' were nothing to laugh at either. Ruby tried to copy the other girl, tightening her fist as she walked up to the target Instructor Port was holding out for her. With a short yell, Ruby threw her first punch, hitting the target right in the center.

"Excellent!" Port laughed. "You've got quite a good swing on you, my dear girl!"

"Really? You think so? Thanks!" Ruby said. Weiss grunted behind her, and Ruby quickly corrected herself. "Oh! I mean, thank you, sir!" she said, bowing.

When she returned back to the line, Weiss was already talking to her.

"You dunce!" she snapped. "Don't put your thumb on the inside! You'll break it! Honestly..." She grabbed Ruby's hand and pressed the girl's fingers into a fist, making a point to fold her thumb on the outside. "Now when you hold your arm, put your elbow _behind_ your fist, not underneath it. Aim with your first two knuckles."

She instructed Ruby as the other students punched and moved up the line. When it was Ruby's turn again, she threw the new punch that Weiss had helped her make and gave a shout. Instructor Port laughed out loud.

"Even better, my girl! You're learning quickly! Good job!"

Ruby's lips curved up into a bright, beaming smile.

"Thanks, Weiss!" she grinned to the girl.

"It still needs work," Weiss mumbled. "But not bad, Ruby."

That had been the first time Weiss had ever said her name.

The rest of the class seemed to fly by: they went over basic kicks and their hand motions, and before Ruby knew it, it was time for the higher ranks' class.

She retreated to the changing room with Pyrrha, Nora, and Weiss to shed their uniforms, wishing them all goodbye and promising to see them again in their next class.

Ruby bowed and said goodbye to Ozpin and the staff before taking a seat beside her father as Yang's class began. She gushed to him about everything she'd learned, forgetting that he'd been there to watch her do all of it.

She was surprised when she felt someone sit down beside her, and Ruby quickly turned around.

Weiss was there, dressed in casual clothes now instead of her uniform. Ruby excitedly scooched her chair closer to the girl.

"Hey! You're not going home?" she wondered.

"...My father's not here yet to pick me up. So I might as well watch the class. Learn something."

The fact was that there were ten or so free chairs around them, and Weiss had chosen to sit beside Ruby. The brunette couldn't keep the smile off her face.

She sat beside Weiss as they observed the color belts' class, catching glimpses of their own future curriculum.

A few minutes later, Weiss reached into her pocket and extracted her phone. She stood and said goodbye to Ruby.

"I'll... see you next time in class."

Ruby grinned and nodded.

"See you then!"

She watched Weiss go before directing her attention back to Blake and Yang's class.

After almost half a year of waiting, Ruby had finally begun her taekwondo lessons beside her sister. She'd made some new friends – more than she'd made in school that year, that was for sure – and she'd learned so much just in her first class alone.

This was a commitment Ruby wanted to keep to for a long time, and she'd known that much from the start.

And this really _was_ just the beginning.

She couldn't wait to discover whatever was to come of joining Ozpin's school, be it good, bad, or anything in between.

* * *

 **A/N: Phew! So I know that was a lot of stuff rushed into one chapter, but I needed to get it all out of the way so the next one isn't as dull and unfocused.**

 **Clearing up some confusion! Originally, the no-belt group consisted of Sun, Neptune, Pyrrha, Weiss, Jaune, Ren, and Nora. But as happens in real TKD schools, students who join and train first get to test first, while the others have to wait a few more months to test. In this case, Sun, Neptune, Pyrrha, and Weiss go to advance to the white belt test, but Jaune, Ren, and Nora have to wait till the next one. So Ruby will join them as a no-belt now.**

 **If you've got questions, ask away!**

 **If you like my work, you can support me as Kiria Alice on !**

 **Please review!**


	2. Planting The Seed

**Sorry about any confusion in the previous chapter. It's since been fixed! Though several people asked for a belt ranking scale. I'm going based off my school's ranking system which is no-belt, white, yellow, orange, green, blue, purple, red, brown, jr. black, and black.**

 **Dedicated to gophersaurus! Thanks so much!**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own RWBY.**

* * *

Chapter 2. Planting The Seed

For close to three months, Ruby trained in her taekwondo classes at least twice a week.

Being her senior, Weiss helped her out whenever she could, usually before class – as Weiss was always sure to be ten minutes early – or after class as she waited for her father to arrive and pick her up.

And even though Yang was two ranks above her little sister, helping Ruby out with her curriculum served to refresh her memory of her previous ranks.

Since their father drove Blake to most classes as well, the Faunus girl often visited the Rose-Xiao Long residence, and the three of them would practice together outside in the yard for a while before coming inside for snacks or movies prepared by Summer.

Ruby had a lot of fun training together with Blake and her sister, but she also really enjoyed the miniature lessons Weiss would give her before class. Ever since the white-haired girl had corrected how she made a fist and punched, Ruby had never regressed back into her old bad habit of sticking her thumb inside her fist.

She just wished Weiss could come over to visit sometimes and have fun with the rest of them.

But Weiss always had to go home after classes, and Ruby had quickly gathered that her father was a very strict man. Weiss had once told her, "I'm lucky he's even letting me take classes here. If I don't excel in every sense of the word, he'll have me quit. And I don't want to quit."

It was clear to anyone how passionate Weiss was about the martial art, even at the simple rank of white belt. At that stage, she didn't have as much curriculum to remember as the higher ranks, but she was always trying her hardest, even when she wasn't having a good day. She always paid attention in class and followed instructions to the best of her abilities. She was always pushing herself beyond her limits, and that was a good thing in martial arts – at least to a certain extent.

Just as Weiss coached Ruby a bit every day, she herself got some lessons from her fellow classmates.

Weiss truly admired Pyrrha, perhaps even to the point where that admiration mixed with the faintest bit of jealousy.

Pyrrha was an exceptional student in every sense of the word. While the rest of them had their weaknesses in certain departments, Pyrrha didn't seem to have any at all. Even as a white belt, she was a model student, and the instructors always called upon her for demonstrations.

Whenever she offered Weiss assistance with things, the girl was conflicted; there was a part of her that wanted to be begrudging and curt because of her humiliation at the prospect of _needing help_. But even stronger than that was the side of her that looked up to Pyrrha and wanted to be close to her.

Despite the wounds it blew to her pride, Weiss listened to everything her friend told her, always trying to better herself in her classes.

When Weiss didn't feel she was kicking high enough, Pyrrha was there pushing her back as she stretched to touch her toes. When Weiss didn't feel she was running fast enough, Pyrrha was beside her to offer a shout of encouragement.

Pyrrha not only pushed the girl to encourage her, but also took care of her, as she knew sometimes Weiss' stubbornness could work against her health.

Once, after a workout that was rather intense for a white-belt class, that had consisted of fifteen straight minutes of cardiac exercises, Glynda told the students to pause for a water break. Sun and Neptune had raced out of the dojang toward the fountain in the back, wrestling for first dibs.

Weiss and Pyrrha limped back into the girls' changing room to retrieve the water bottles they'd brought themselves. With a hand on her hip, Pyrrha chugged at least half her bottle before wiping her arm across her forehead, collecting the beaded sweat as she let out a long sigh.

"Wow! What a great workout! Even if we feel a little exhausted or sore now, it still feels really good to have accomplished making it through the entire routine, don't you think?"

Weiss simply nodded, her usually-erect posture slouched as she sat on the small bench there, her unopened water bottle clutched in her hands between her knees.

Pyrrha waited for a moment as the girl caught her breath, but Weiss didn't open her bottle. She merely stood up and put it back into her bag before heading back toward the dojang. Pyrrha immediately rushed after her and grabbed her sleeve.

"Weiss, hold on! Aren't you going to drink?"

"Don't need it..." she mumbled. "I'm fine."

"I didn't ask if you were," Pyrrha said. "And of _course_ you need water. After something like that? It's essential that you keep yourself hydrated or else you're going to get sick. You could _easily_ collapse in the remainder of class and I don't want to see that happen. So please, Weiss. Drink."

Her friend's shoulders were still heaving as she caught her breath, but Pyrrha refused to relinquish her grip on Weiss' sleeve. After a few seconds, Weiss turned back around.

"Alright..."

She staggered back into the changing room and took out her water bottle. Pyrrha watched as she unscrewed the cap and began to drink, feeling relieved that Weiss wasn't risking her health. Weiss drank a little less than Pyrrha might've liked her to, but it was much better than nothing, and in the end, the crimson-haired girl was satisfied with it.

"Thank you, Weiss," she smiled, pulling her classmate into a brief hug. "Don't be pushing yourself so hard, okay? A little bit is good, but things like water and rest aren't optional."

Weiss relished the moment in Pyrrha's arms, her intense heart rate finally slowing. That was the first time that words of concern for her had ever truly seemed to sink in.

"Thank you..." she mumbled.

They walked back onto the dojang with the boys to commence class, and finish up the final twenty or so minutes, which was more curriculum learning and a bit of review.

The no-belts had begun to arrive for their own class that day, just as the white belts were bowing and finishing up.

There was a ten minute break time in between the two classes, which was when the students of different ranks tended to interact the most. Sometimes their classes were combined, but they couldn't speak casually during class very often. So no was the best time to do so.

Pyrrha went straight over to Jaune who bowed awkwardly to her.

"H-Hi, Pyrrha. Didja have a good class?"

"Excellent!" she beamed. "It was grand. Now how are those punches coming along?"

"Uhm..."

"Why don't you show me?"

She took him aside a little bit to help him.

Nora and Ren tended to follow along as well, though they often kept to their own practices. Nora preferred to kick the large, stationary target set up in the space between the changing rooms and the dojang, while Ren utilized a bit of the space to practice his motions.

Sun and Neptune practiced their self-defense and usually engaged in a bit of unprofessional wrestling before getting changed and heading home.

Ruby tended to simply sit at the edge of the dojang and wait to be called in, and today was no different.

Which was why Weiss paused when she saw her kneeling there, like a puppy waiting for a command. Weiss ducked her face into her sleeve and grunted a greeting.

"You know, you can practice a bit with the others before class."

Ruby perked up instantly, delighted that Weiss had stopped and taken the time to speak to her.

"Hi, Weiss!" she said. "And... I mean, yeah I could do that. But it's like..." She looked away, her smile disappearing.

Weiss crossed her arms and tapped her foot a bit.

"It's like what?" she prompted.

Ruby looked back over her shoulder to ensure none of the others could hear her before she continued.

"Well... It's like... they've all already got their own little groups and stuff. Everyone already has friends here, but I... I _don't_..." Her shoulders slumped and she hung her head.

Heaving a sigh, Weiss opted to sit down beside her.

"That's because you haven't made an attempt to become friends with them," she explained.

"But I have!" Ruby protested. "I mean I always talk to them and say hi and train with them and stuff but... but everyone already knew each other _before_ joining taekwondo. But I don't have anyone like that except Yang and Blake, and they're not in my classes..."

"I see..." Weiss shifted a bit until she was sitting more comfortably, a feat she never would have dreamed of a month ago before she was entirely comfortable with being at this school. "So what you're saying is that you've got no pre-existing relationships prior to when you joined the school, and your attempts at initiating mutually-intriguing conversations with your fellows since joining have proven to be fruitless, am I correct?"

Ruby's eyebrows furrowed and her jaw gaped a little bit, her eyes swimming with confusion. But Weiss was waiting for an answer, and she seemed to have known what she was talking about, so Ruby simply nodded.

"Y-Yeah... Pretty much."

"Then you're still a lot better off than I was," Weiss murmured.

"Huh?" Ruby blinked curiously. "What do you mean, Weiss?"

The older girl glanced at her briefly, allowing Ruby to catch a glimpse of bright blue for just a split second.

"I've been coming here for almost five months now, and for at least four of them, I never _wanted_ to make any acquaintances. I only wanted to focus on myself and my own training. I never wanted anything to do with the rest of you. I never showed an interest in anyone else here. Which was why... I was confused when you all showed an interest in _me,_ regardless."

She tilted her head back a bit as she continued, as if getting lost in memories.

"I was only coming to classes for myself until recently. But then you spoke to me after my testing. You complimented _me_ specifically. Pyrrha's always worried about me taking care of myself. That hyper monkey boy Sun and his friend are always asking me questions about our curriculum and wanting me to help them out.

"And even your sister and her Faunus friend say hello to me and ask how I'm doing. I never expected the people here to be like this. But now that I'm discovering they _are_... I've got to change myself accordingly."

There was a brief moment of silence before Ruby piped up timidly.

"What do you mean?"

Weiss looked over at her once more and continued.

"I mean that I've got to start... interacting with other people more. Being aloof won't do me any good here; I'm stuck with the lot of you whether I like it or not. And I don't really dislike it..."

She brought her chin back down and returned her gaze levelly to Ruby's. "What I mean to say is... well, at least you _tried_ to make friends. _I_ haven't even put in the effort. And I guess I really should be.

"Training here pretending to be aloof and on my own won't fool anyone. As far as I can tell, the people who come here to train together are almost like a family, in a way. There are some people you really like, some you'd rather avoid, and some you don't mind. But we're all going to be here training together for a while, so we might as well get used to things and enjoy it as best we can."

She'd more or less gone off on a tangent or two, but the words just didn't stop coming until then.

Ruby was silent for a moment, absorbing the girl's words. Weiss seemed wise beyond her fourteen years, that was for sure.

And yet, Ruby had seen for herself how stern and unhappy Weiss' father had appeared to be, how indifferent her sister was. Maybe this group of students not related by blood was the best shot at a _real_ family Weiss was going to get.

If she could, Ruby would be proud to be a part of that.

Ruby had been fumbling for something to say that wouldn't sound too cheesy or make either of them uncomfortable, but Weiss beat her to it.

"Anyway," she said. "My point is that you're off to a good start, Ruby. This is only your first month training here. You'll make plenty of friends before you know it. In fact, I think you already have."

Just as she finished speaking, Jaune came running up behind the two girls.

"Hey, Ruby!" he called. "Wanna go over our self-defense together? If you partner with Nora, I can be with Ren, and _he_ won't almost fracture my arm, I'm pretty sure..."

"U-Um..." Ruby flashed a glance to Weiss without fully knowing why. The white-haired girl sighed and rolled her eyes.

"You don't need my approval to make your own decisions, you know." Weiss stood and stretched her arms a bit. "Just don't forget to drink a bit before you start class."

Ruby scrambled to stand up after her.

"Are you going home, Weiss?"

The older girl turned back briefly.

"Not right away. I've got to change first, then I think I'll stay a while to observe your class before I call my father."

"Okay then!" Ruby finally cracked her smile once again. "Then in case I don't get to talk to you again before you leave – thanks, Weiss!"

The white belt froze, her eyes going wide. She cleared her throat quickly but didn't turn to look back at Ruby as she replied – her face felt warm.

"Don't thank me, you dunce. It's just common sense..."

"Heehee~ Even so! Thank you, Weiss! I feel a whole lot better now! I'll see you next time in class!"

Ruby couldn't see it for herself, but she heard the smile in Weiss' voice.

"Of course you will."

That was how the two of them got into their little routine.

Whenever the no-belt and white belt classes were separate, Ruby and Weiss would talk and train together in the time in between. When their classes were joint, Weiss always gave Ruby pointers whenever she could, be it during the exercise drills or any other times they could converse.

Everyone quietly noticed the bond forming between the two girls.

As Ruby had said, everyone else in the school seemed to already have friends and formed relationships upon starting their classes.

Ruby had been a bit of an outcast just because of her social awkwardness, and Weiss had been an outcast by choice to isolate herself from the others.

So naturally, people started noticing when the two started spending more time together. Pyrrha and Yang in particular.

Pyrrha was delighted to find that Weiss was taking better care of herself. Rather than refusing water or neglecting to eat after a class, Weiss was opting to bring snacks along with her and often shared them with Ruby. Now that she felt the need to take care of her underclassman, Weiss was finally looking out for her own health as well.

And Yang noticed that Ruby's initial excitement that had been directed towards attending classes had increased tenfold since she'd started getting to know Weiss.

As the older sister, Yang had noticed how shy and uncertain Ruby had been in her first several weeks' worth of classes. She'd been worried Ruby might lose interest if she wasn't comfortable.

Luckily, Weiss had stepped in just in time to salvage both Ruby's and her own passion for the martial art.

Yang's mind was eased now that she knew she could leave Ruby in Weiss' care during her class when Yang wasn't with her.

Because the blonde had her own problems to deal with.

Yang's issue was Cardin again.

Even after they had changed the days they took classes so they wouldn't have to see him so often, it had only served to deter Cardin and his gang for a few weeks.

During those peaceful classes, Blake and Yang had been together with Coco and her friends as well as Sage and Scarlet. Those had been productive days, and they had all enjoyed working and training together, helping one another practice their kicking or forms or whatever they needed assistance with.

Blake had been visibly more relaxed without the boys there to harass her every time she turned her back, and she'd even allowed her ears to stand tall and proud.

But evidently, Cardin and his gang had grown bored with attending classes without their favorite target to pick on. So they had started coming on Yang and Blake's new days.

The first time it had happened, Blake ears had instantly drooped as she'd frozen at the doorway. Yang growled and Ruby groaned beside her.

"Why are they here?" she whined to her father.

"Maybe it's just a fluke..." Yang grumbled. "Hopefully they won't keep coming on our days. Let's just take class, Blake."

She took her friend's hand and led her back into the changing rooms, bowing only to Ozpin and the instructors as they passed.

Once they closed the door and started to change, Yang could tell how uneasy Blake was. As soon as she tied her belt, she sat on the bench and pressed her back to the wall, curling her knees to her chest.

"Yang... I don't want to take class. I don't feel well anymore..."

Dismayed, Yang went to her friend quietly and sat beside her, wrapping an arm around her shoulders.

"C'mon, Blake. You can't let those jerks get to you. We've been having so much fun lately."

"Yeah, _without_ those guys," Blake mumbled. "All they ever do is laugh at me behind my back. I already _know_ I'm not good at kicking, but they always say it's because I'm a Faunus. I'm lesser, so I'm not good at anything like they are."

"Hey now, you know that's not true!" Yang protested, pulling her closer. "We're only yellow belts! No way we're gonna be great at _everything_ we do right off the bat. And you're not _lesser_ in terms of anything, Blake!

"In fact, I think it's _because_ you're a Faunus that you're so good at everything! You're so coordinated and balanced and poised and stuff. Your form's the best in the school, even better than Velvet's or Yatsuhashi's! You can't let stupid Cardin get in your way of becoming a martial artist."

She knew that Blake's worst enemy was her own lack of confidence in herself. She took everything to heart, especially ridicule about being a Faunus. It was something she'd been targeted for all her life, and here it was no different.

But taekwondo was something Blake was truly passionate about. She didn't want to be bullied away from it, and Yang vowed not to let her be. She'd do whatever it took to keep Blake here with her.

Yang rubbed her friend's back for a minute, feeling Blake sigh.

"If this is really bothering you so much, let's talk to Master Ozpin or Head Instructor Goodwitch about it. At least that way they'll know to keep you as far away from those guys as possible."

Blake sighed again, but surprisingly, she shook her head.

"No..." she mumbled. "No, you're right, Yang. If I don't start standing up to them now, I never will. I don't... want to keep running away from them. I don't want to tell Instructor Goodwitch or Instructor Port or Instructor Oobleck, and especially not Master Ozpin. That would be like running away from Cardin and just... hiding. Making the adults take care of me. I want to... I want to start learning how to take care of myself. I want to become more confident."

She slipped her legs off the bench, straightening her posture a bit. Yang cracked a small smile.

"Yeah! You can do it, Blake! I believe in you! And I'll be right here beside you all the way! Don't worry about a thing! I'll always be here to help if you need some support!" Blake finally smiled too. She turned to the side and slipped her arms around Yang's torso, burying her face into her collar with a hug.

"Thank you, Yang."

Once they'd parted, they tied their hair into ponytails as per usual. Yang noticed that Blake didn't try to keep her ears down anymore – instead, she let them stand tall as they walked out of the changing room.

The boys were stretching and preparing for class, kicking at one another and throwing each other to the ground, laughing harshly. As soon as the girls walked on, however, the boys paused and started casting looks their way.

Blake could hear them snickering clearly with her keen ears. They said things like "here comes the kitty cat!" and "watch out, her aim sucks so bad she might kick you instead of the target!"

Yang saw her friend's ears droop again for a second, and it made her angry. If not for learning self-control and how to only use violence as a last resort as any martial arts student should, Yang would already have roared and charged the boys to start pounding them.

But since joining taekwondo, Yang had become a bit more refined. Although she did still have small bursts of rage every now and again, Blake was always there to ensure they never got the better of her.

Even now, Yang restrained herself from making snarky comments back at Cardin, and instead focused on fixing her uniform and retying her belt.

She and Blake chatted with Sage and Scarlet and practiced their kicks. Kicking was Blake's weakness and the main reason Cardin decided to pick on her other than the fact that she was a Faunus. There was only one of those two things that Blake could change, and she was eager to do as much, more so for herself than for anyone else.

But she knew there was more to it than that as well. It wasn't just about the physical training; it was just as much about the mental.

 _It's only as bad as you make it out to be,_ she reminded herself. _I can easily choose not to listen to him. He's saying these things because he's taking out his own frustrations on me, but nothing's my fault. If he chooses to deal with his problems by taking them out on others, then I'll just refuse to give him a reaction. My reaction is his reward, and if he doesn't get it, then he'll eventually stop._

She coached herself until class started, and then even throughout the class. When they started kicking drills, Blake had no choice but to stand on line with the boys as she awaited her turn with the instructor. Every time she finished kicking and returned to the back of the line, she could hear them mumbling taunts and laughing at her.

But Blake didn't flatten her ears anymore. She kept them tall and her chin held high as she awaited her next turn.

She could tell she still had a lot to work on in terms of her technique, especially if she compared her kicks to Yang's. The blonde's were always powerful and precise, and the accompanying shout she'd give always made everyone flinch just a little.

Yang was rather intense, to say the least. She was someone none of them was looking forward to sparring once they'd moved up a couple more belt ranks.

Blake could tell that her own kicks were improving bit by bit every time.

But even so, what was most important was that she build up her confidence and not let detrimental words or thoughts get to her. She didn't want the boys to chase her away from this sport that she was growing to love so much. She _deserved_ to have fun here and learn, and she resolved herself not to let them take that away from her.

Once they'd finished kicking drills, they spread out in one group to practice their basic hand techniques and self-defense. For the latter, Blake and Yang still rushed to be partners with one another – neither really wanted to touch or be touched by any of those boys, after all.

By the time the class had ended, Glynda had given Cardin and his friends a collective total of forty push-ups for constantly disrupting her classes. She pulled the four of them aside afterward and scolded them, threatening that if they didn't shape up soon and find better attitudes that she would confiscate their belts.

Glynda was at the end of her rope with them, and she made sure to scare them a bit.

After that day, the boys weren't as much of a problem anymore, and everyone noticed it. The higher ranks didn't have to worry about their underclassman being bullied anymore, and the lower ranks didn't have to dread going to their classes.

Yang was mostly proud of Blake, and hugged her tightly.

"I'm so glad you stood up to them. Well, without actually confronting them about it! You're so great, Blake! You fought them by bettering yourself, and I think that's what all this is about."

Blake nodded, wrapping her arms around Yang's shoulders.

"Thanks, Yang. For everything."

From then on, they could train in peace, and the boys went back to attending classes on different days. Without Cardin there to constantly taunt Blake over her shoulder, she could focus more on her kicking and what needed work.

Since Yang was an exceptional kicker, she helped the Faunus girl out before and after classes and even at home when Blake came to visit. She suffered mostly with the roundhouse kicks, which happened to be Yang's best kicks.

Their next testing date was drawing near, and Blake wanted to make her technique as good as she could get it before then.

Presently, the two of them were in the changing rooms before class. Blake sat on the floor with her legs stretched out in front of her, reaching for her toes. Yang sat behind her and leaned her weight onto the girl's back.

"Now for roundhouse kick..." Yang was saying her. "What'cha gotta do is turn your hip and kick at the _same_ time. Don't do one and then the other. It's not gonna work."

"Right..." Blake huffed, chest pressed down to her knees.

"And also," Yang went on. "You don't have to kick _high_. I mean, sure kicking higher looks cooler and stuff, but that's mainly for showing off, like in a demo or something. But we're still too inexperienced to hafta worry about that kinda thing. So what I mean is, you can kick a bit lower – maybe like just belt-height – and make it powerful instead of a higher, wussier kick. Just make sure you-"

"O-Okay, Yang?" Blake mumbled against her pants. "This is all great advice and all, but my legs are on fire and I can't breathe."

"Huh? Oh, sorry." Yang stopped pushing on the girl's back and slowly helped her sit up, sheepishly chuckling as she smoothed Blake's ponytail and bangs. The Faunus girl huffed as the pain in her legs began to dissipate. Yang took her hands and helped her up, fixing Blake's belt for her.

"Alright, why don't you kick me," the blonde invited.

Blake gave her a look as though she'd sprouted an extra head.

"What? Yang, I'm not just gonna throw a kick at you."

"Come on! It's fine, don't worry about it. Just do it. Roundhouse me."

Blake gave her a dubious stare, but nonetheless took a step back to get into her kicking stance. She swung a roundhouse kick at the blonde, expecting that Yang planned to dodge.

She didn't.

Blake ended up kicking her in the side, but Yang let her, grabbing her leg and holding it in place.

"Ow, ugh..." she mumbled.

"Yang!" Blake shrieked. "Why didn't you move?"

"Cuz that's no fun!"

"I don't believe you..."

"Anyway," she went on, holding Blake's leg against her side, leaving the Faunus to wobble on one foot. "Ya see how your toes are angled kinda upward? For a roundhouse, you have to turn them more sideways. And to do that, you need to turn your hips. Easiest way to do that is actually just by turning your other foot! Give it a try. Twist your left foot and see what happens."

Though a bit unbalanced, Blake did as Yang suggested, turning her left foot sideways. Automatically, her hips followed, causing her kicking leg to extend a bit more.

"Yeah! There you go! See?" Yang said. "Try that little trick from now on in class and see if it works for you, okay?" She dropped Blake's leg and the Faunus girl straightened up again, slightly baffled.

"Thanks for the tip," she said. "But more importantly, are you okay? I didn't try to kick hard, but still..." She stepped closer to Yang and rubbed the girl's side gently. Yang winced a bit and let out a sigh.

"Yeah, I'm all good! I literally asked for it, haha."

"You're something else..." Blake sighed.

She gave her friend one more hug before they headed out to the dojang.

Blake did start to improve her roundhouse kick, but the yellow belts soon began to learn a brand new kick that was to be their breaking technique at their next belt test.

While Yang and Blake spent their classes trying to perfect their new side kicks, Ruby was working with Weiss in their combined class.

For the exercise portion of the class, they got to train together with the rest of the students. But when it came time to split up, Weiss was with Pyrrha, Sun, and Neptune while Ruby was with the rest of the no-belts.

Even then, Weiss sacrificed a bit of her focus on Instructor Port so she could occasionally flick her gaze to Ruby's group.

Pyrrha did the same for Jaune. Pyrrha had a bit more to look out for, considering how the blond boy was fairly flimsy in all that he did.

Weiss didn't have as much on her shoulders as Pyrrha did.

Ruby was skilled in most of the curriculum. She fumbled a bit whenever Glynda asked them to recite their mental knowledge, but it was still only the first few months for Ruby, and those things would come in time with more practice.

Her punches had definitely improved since Weiss had started helping her, and she was very good at her self-defense as well. But what Ruby seemed to excel at the most were her bounce steps.

The motions were a series of several in-place bounces, followed by a skip forward or backward or to either side. Sometimes it was switching feet or stepping in a certain direction.

Bounce techniques were mainly used in the rank of green belt and higher, since that was the level when sparring lessons began. Bouncing and movement was key to molding a successful sparrer, and so those techniques were thought at the earliest level so students would be ready for sparring when the time came.

Weiss could tell just from her movements that Ruby would be a brilliant sparrer. That happened to be the department Weiss herself was dreading the most, but that didn't stop her from striving to improve with her technique.

After class, the students bowed to Master Ozpin and the instructors as always, but before they could all leave the dojang, Glynda had them halt.

"I've got some testing papers to give out," she announced.

Standing in rank order, Weiss was right beside Ruby, and she physically felt the girl jump in excitement. Hastily, Weiss hushed her and prevented her from squealing out loud.

Glynda started calling names, and at each one, the students clapped and cheered in congratulations. The white belts received their papers, Weiss' being the last name called. Ruby clapped a little harder for her.

Then, Glynda began reading off the names of no-belts.

"Lie Ren," she called.

The boy walked up to her wearing a calm expression. He bowed and accepted the paper with both hands before taking his spot in line once more.

"Nora Valkyrie."

"Whoo!" Nora pumped a fist into the air before running up to Glynda and throwing her torso forward in a huge bow. "Thank you, ma'am!"

"Very good, Miss Valkyrie. Now back to your line." Glynda glanced down at the next paper. "Jaune Arc."

The boy beside Ruby nearly fell over from shock.

"Wh-What? Me? _I'm_ getting my testing paper?"

Pyrrha beamed at him from down the line.

"Congratulations!"

The boy's jaw hung open and his legs seemed to turn to noodles. Glynda cleared her throat and called for him again.

"Mr. Arc? Would you like your testing paper or not?"

"Oh yes, ma'am!" he said, stepping forward to accept the sheet.

There was one paper left in Glynda's hand. She looked up past her glasses and called out.

"Ruby Rose."

"Aaaahhh!" Ruby slapped a hand to her mouth as she stepped forward, bubbling with excitement as she bowed and took the paper with trembling hands. "Th-Thank you, Head Instructor Goodwitch! Thank you thank you thank yoooouu!"

"Don't thank me," the woman said with a small smile. "You've earned your testing paper by working hard. You all have. Don't forget that."

Ruby's gaze traveled over her first testing paper ever, and she ended up kissing it before zipping back into line.

Glynda raised her voice a bit and continued.

"Now, as it says on your papers, your testing date is next Friday at 5PM. Come ten minutes early to prepare. I'll see you all next time in class."

They all bowed to one another before scattering, heading for the changing rooms and exit. But Ruby dashed instantly over to where her father and Yang were sitting in the chairs at the edge of the dojang.

"I did it!" she squealed. "I got my testing paper! I'm gonna be a white belt!"

"That's awesome!" Yang cheered, standing up to hug her little sister and twirl her around. "I'll be gettin' orange!"

Their father congratulated them both and hugged his daughters.

"Just wait until you tell Mom!" he said.

"Yeah!" Ruby gasped. "Oh my gosh, do you think she'll bake cookies to celebrate?"

"I sure hope so!" Yang grinned.

Ruby ran back to the changing rooms to get dressed, hugging Weiss tightly just before she left.

"I'll see you next week in class!"

"Yes..." the older girl wheezed. "Don't forget to help your sister study the mental knowledge, alright? And you better make sure to study your things as well."

"I will! Thanks, Weiss!"

Ruby grabbed her bag with her uniform in it and rushed out back to where her father and Yang were waiting. Blake had went over to them as well, ready to be driven home.

But Ruby noticed Weiss' father wasn't here to pick her up yet.

"Um... Dad? Can we stay just a few minutes? I don't want Weiss to have to sit here all by herself while she waits..."

"Of course," he said.

When Weiss emerged from the changing room, she was a bit surprised to see Ruby and her group still waiting. Weiss said hello to the girl's father politely before addressing Ruby.

"Aren't you going home?"

"Well yeah," she shrugged. "But there's no rush! I wanna wait till your dad gets here!"

Weiss' eyes went wide.

"...Really?"

"Yeah!" Yang cut in. "While we wait, maybe you could help me with my mental stuff! How do you remember everything so well just as a white belt? Teach me your ways!"

"Well, it isn't so hard, really..."

Weiss sat down in one of the chairs, and the other three girls gathered around her. Yang handed her the sheet with the yellow belts' mental knowledge typed out on it. Weiss confidently began informing them of her own successful study methods, and the others listened intently.

They were getting rather into it by the time Weiss' phone buzzed to inform her that her father had arrived. She quickly stood up and ran to the shoe rack to put her socks on.

"Sorry. I'll tell you more later. Father hates to be kept waiting," she said quickly.

The others frowned a bit, and Blake's ears drooped.

"Okay then..." Ruby mumbled. "Thanks again, Weiss! You're always helping me out."

She ran forward to hug her one last time, feeling as though Weiss could use it. The white-haired girl sighed and squeezed her back gently.

"Don't thank me. I'll see you next week."

Before she could pull away, however, Yang had stepped up to hug her as well.

"Lemme thank you, too! I'll do my best to make you proud, Weiss! I'll study hard, I promise!"

"A-Alright..." the girl stammered. "Good, then. But I've really got to go. I'm sorry."

Blake was the one who put a hand to both Ruby's and Yang's backs and gently pried them away. The Faunus girl met Weiss' eyes briefly before the white-haired girl dropped her gaze.

"Bye, Weiss," Blake said softly.

Weiss dipped her head to all of them before stepping into her shoes and hurrying out the exit toward the parking lot. The others watched her go with worried eyes.

"Her dad's really strict," Blake murmured. "I feel kinda bad for her."

"Yeah..." Ruby sighed. "She told me that... if she's not perfect at doing taekwondo, her father's threatening to make her quit and he'll stop paying for her lessons. It's really mean of him..."

"What a jerk," Yang huffed. "But there's not really anything we can do about it..."

With a collective sigh, the three girls got their shoes and socks on, and went back to Ruby's and Yang's father. They headed for the parking lot, and Ruby almost felt guilty in knowing her car ride home would be full of fun music and talking, while Weiss' was probably composed of uncomfortable silence.

All the way home, she thought of anything she might be able to do for Weiss, and at last came to a decision.

* * *

The next week passed by as all of the students attended their final lessons for their current rank levels.

They perfected all of their techniques as best they could; Weiss helped them all study mental knowledge before and after classes, Yang helped Blake with her kicking, and Ruby practiced her punches.

And before they knew it, it was Friday.

Yang tied her hair with an orange scrunchy so that it would match her new belt after the test, and she had given Blake a matching one to wear. Ruby clipped a small barrette of a white rose into her hair, just above her left ear.

As they waited in the carpeted area of the school, Ruby noticed that even Weiss had tied her hair with a yellow scrunchy.

All of the students had gathered, even the higher ranks; Coco and the other green belts were testing as well.

When Ozpin gave the call for all of them to enter the dojang, everyone lined up in rank order and bowed before walking on.

Ruby's heart was thudding a mile a minute, and she swallowed hard to keep it down. Since she was the lowest rank, she'd be testing first.

Glynda called her to a spot, followed by Jaune, Nora, and Ren. As per Glynda's instructions, they all bowed to Ozpin where he sat at the front of the room behind a portable table to take notes of their test.

There were various papers he'd be writing on in front of him. To one side were the medals and trophies for students receiving their new belts, and to the other side were the new belts themselves.

One of those white belts was _Ruby's_.

That thought – combined with the knowledge that Weiss, Blake, and Yang were watching and supporting her from the sidelines – was what chased Ruby's last bit of uncertainty away.

Together with her classmates, she went through their basic hand techniques as ordered, doing her best to show off her accuracy in each block and strike.

For her kicking, she made sure to aim above her head and always yell loudly, even louder than Nora. Jaune fell a few times, but he always got back up. Ruby was his partner in self-defense, and though he forgot the motions at first, she mumbled a quick reminder to him.

They all stumbled a bit with reciting the mental knowledge; Jaune made a few things up on the spot and Nora flat-out forgot a few of them.

But Ruby felt she had done Weiss' lessons justice, despite how she'd missed a few words here and there.

When it came time to break their boards, Ren went up first. Instructor Port was holding the board for him, and though Ren didn't shout particularly loud, he brought his fist down more swiftly than a snake strike and broke it perfectly in half. The audience clapped as he was given his boards and asked to go back to his spot to kneel.

Nora was next, and with a loud "KEEYAAH!" smashed her fist through the board without a hitch.

Jaune, however, wasn't so lucky. His fist bumped off the board without breaking it, and he shook his hand in pain. Ruby saw Weiss flinch from the corner of her eye, and she assumed the girl was remembering her own first failed breaking.

"U-Uh..." Jaune grunted. "M-May I try again, sir?" he asked with a bow.

Ozpin nodded.

"Yes, go ahead."

As the boy raised his fist above his head, Pyrrha was the one who started the cheering. She clapped her hands and called out: "You can do it!"

After that, the others gathered started to call words of encouragement as well.

Fueled by their energy, Jaune gave another cracked yell and broke through the board. Cheers erupted at his success, and even Weiss was clapping.

Finally, it was Ruby's turn.

She took up her stance in front of the board and made a fist, eyes focused – this would be her first breaking _ever_ , and she didn't want to miss it.

She concentrated, took a deep breath, and aimed her fist. With a short shout, she brought her fist down and split the board, hitting it so hard it fell out of Instructor Port's hands.

Yang cheered loudest of all for her, but as Ruby excitedly picked up the pieces of her board, she saw Weiss was smiling and clapping as well.

Ruby bowed to the instructors and master before giving her boards to her father on the sidelines. She went to where the other testing students were sitting on the floor and hugged Yang briefly.

"I'm so proud of you, sis!" she cheered softly.

"Thanks, Yang!"

Blake shifted onto her knees to hug Ruby as well.

At last, the brunette turned to Weiss.

"You did splendidly, Ruby," the white belt said. "Good job."

Ruby knelt down in front of her and hugged her too, not caring if Weiss' father saw. In fact, she _wanted_ him to see, so that he'd know Weiss was loved here at her taekwondo school.

"Thank you, Weiss! It's your turn next, so good luck! I know you'll do amazing!"

"Thank you, Ruby."

The no-belts sat down as the white belts stood and were called to their spots to begin testing. Ruby sat beside her friends as she watched the next test, though her gaze was mainly focused on Weiss.

The four white belts did well with their hand techniques and kicking. Pyrrha's and Weiss' long ponytails swayed behind their backs, and while Pyrrha kicked the highest of the four only because she was tallest, Weiss was aiming above her own head height.

The girls and boys were paired up for self-defense, and while Sun and Neptune were a bit more hyper, Pyrrha and Weiss were more refined.

The white belts performed the first of ten forms created by the school. The form was a combination of stances and blocks or hand strikes, and Ruby watched in amazement as the four of them moved in unison, almost like one person. The girls' hair whipped out behind them, and Ruby absorbed their motions into her memory – she'd be learning this soon enough.

When it came time for the mental knowledge, Weiss' voice rang out loudest and most clearly. Where Sun failed to answer, Ozpin called on Weiss, who provided the perfect response word-for-word. Once again, she displayed her exceptional mentality.

The white belt's breaking technique was an ax kick to the board.

Sun and Pyrrha broke on their first try, but Neptune didn't get it until his third kick.

When Weiss was called up, Ruby grew anxious, stealing a glance behind her at the girl's father. He looked uninterested as usual.

 _Come on, Weiss! You can do it!_

Weiss took up her stance, measuring the distance between the board and herself. She took a deep breath and let out a short yell.

With one swift motion, she lifted her leg for the kick and slammed her heel down onto the board. There was a satisfying crack as it split in two.

Ruby jumped up to her feet and started clapping instantly, before anyone else started to cheer. Weiss picked up her board and bowed to Port, then to Ozpin.

She then looked back over her shoulder to her father and sister. He wasn't smiling, but he didn't appear to be angry either, and that was better than nothing.

The white belts went to hand their boards off to their parents, and Weiss gave hers to her father. She set them on the counter in front of him, and though he didn't touch them, he did give her a slight nod.

Weiss didn't miss it.

She spun around and hurried back to her spot on the dojang, trying to contain her excitement. She bowed with the others before Glynda had them sit down and began calling up the yellow belts.

Ruby clapped for Blake and Yang as they were called up, but the second Weiss sat back down beside her, she hugged her again.

"You did it!" she cheered softly. "You did awesome, Weiss! I'm so happy we're gonna be moving up together!"

"Yes, me too," Weiss whispered. "But let's celebrate after. There's still testing going on."

They were quiet as they watched Blake and Yang go through the yellow belts' motions.

Rather than using fists like no belts, or single open knife-hands like white belts, the yellow belts' motions were double open knife-hand motions.

Their kicking focused mainly on side kicks, a slightly more advanced kick than roundhouse.

Their form was the second numbered one, and it was a bit more complicated than the first the white belts had done, though it still followed the same basic pattern.

Yang did her best with the mental knowledge, but even despite all the practicing she'd done, she still blanked on several of the questions.

Even so, Yang was called up first for their breaking, which was a single side kick. With a loud yell, she pushed through and broke it on her first try, and the cheers rose up.

When Cardin and the other boys got their turn, Ruby didn't clap as energetically, nor did Weiss or the others.

Blake was called up last, and by now, her nerves had gotten the better of her. She tried to remember all Yang had told her, and did her best to ignore the boys' taunting gazes.

Blake gave a yell and twisted her hips, throwing out her leg. She hit the board, but it didn't break. She stumbled back into her kicking stance and faced the board again, but when she inhaled, it was a shaky breath. She could feel their judging eyes upon her, and her heart started to pound.

Then, to her surprise, a cheer went up for her, initiated by Weiss.

"Take your time!" she shouted. "You can do it!"

"Yeah!" Ruby added. "You got this, Blake!"

The others started to cheer as well, but the Faunus girl's eyes went to Yang. The blonde grinned a reassuring smile and gave a nod.

"You're fine!" she said.

Blake swallowed and took another breath, directing her attention back to the board. With another shout, she pushed through and broke it, and the cheers went up all over again.

Blake went to her parents and gave them her wood, and Yang gave hers to her father before hugging Ruby and Weiss together.

Once the yellow belts' testing was over, they sat down beside the others to watch Scarlet and Sage, and finally the green belts. Their breaking technique was a flying side kick, which consisted of running across the dojang before jumping and kicking the board.

Despite her quieter voice by nature, Velvet let out a loud shout as she broke her board, and even Yatsuhashi made a bit of noise. And it was always a pleasure to watch Fox break with the bell dangled over his board. Coco finished up the testing with her break, and at that time, Glynda had all the students rise and line up.

Ruby stood with her head held high as her white belt was placed in front of her.

They all bowed, and then the students with belts turned around and knelt down to untie them.

For a moment, no one wore a belt.

And then Ozpin and the instructors came over and began tying the new belts onto their students.

Ozpin himself made sure to tie for the no-belts; as the master, he wanted to be the one to bestow the first belt upon each person.

When it was her turn, Ruby lifted her arms and tried to keep a serious expression, but ended up smiling in the end.

The belt felt odd around her waist, but she got used to it very quickly.

"Thank you, Master Ozpin," she said humbly, bowing low to him.

"Congratulations, Ruby."

Everyone was awarded their new belts and medals – Weiss looked a bit strange in yellow, as Ruby had gotten so used to seeing her in white, but she liked how Yang and Blake looked in orange.

The highest ranks now adorned blue belts.

Only the new white belts received small trophies for accomplishing the first milestone achievement. The rest of them were awarded medals.

Everyone was congratulated once more, and the parents and gathered families cheered.

Glynda arranged the students into formation for a brief picture-taking session, and finally, after nearly two hours, they were free to go.

Ruby bounced and jumped around excitedly, holding onto the ends of her belt and marveling at it.

"I did it, I did iiiit!" she sang.

She didn't bother changing; she was far too excited and intended to wear her belt and uniform home.

Yang and Blake were the same, still adorning their uniforms and with their hair in ponytails as they sauntered up to Ruby. The brunette turned around and hugged them both.

"Good job, Ruby!" Yang hummed, nuzzling into her sister's hair. "You too, Blake!"

"You were great also," the Faunus said. "We all were."

"So~" Yang cleared her throat. "Are you coming back to our house, Blake?"

"Yeah. I asked my parents and they said it's okay. They'll drive me over, then pick me up later."

"Great! Mom's gonna make those cookies!" Yang stepped away and ruffled Ruby's hair. "Ready to go home, Ruby?"

"Hold on," she said. "Just gimme a sec..." Ruby caught sight of Weiss as the girl headed toward her father and sister. Ruby slipped through the crowd and hurried to reach her. "Weiss!" she called out.

The older girl froze, turning to flash a glance at her.

"Ruby? Good job today, but I-I've got to go home now."

"Are you sure?" Ruby halted beside Weiss, just in front of her father. "Cuz I was just wondering... well, we're having a little party at my house to celebrate the testing and we wanted to know if you could come. I mean, if that's okay?" She looked innocently up to Weiss' father.

He glowered down at her with unmoving grey eyes.

Then, he took Weiss' wrist and walked away with her. Weiss flashed Ruby an apologetic glance as she followed behind him.

Ruby felt her heart sink, and her shoulders slumped. Defeated, she walked back to her parents, Yang, and Blake.

The three girls gathered their shoes and socks and slipped them on. Blake went with her parents who would follow the Rose-Xiao Long's car back to their house to drop their daughter off. She could tell Ruby was sad that Weiss wouldn't be joining them, so she smiled sadly and hugged her friend.

"I'll see you in a few minutes."

"Okay..." Ruby retreated to her sister. Yang ruffled her hair and sighed.

A hand on her shoulder had Ruby looking up at her mother.

"Is your other friend going to be coming over as well?" Summer wondered.

"No..." Ruby sighed regretfully.

"I see..." she murmured. "Maybe next time."

The family of four headed out of the taekwondo school, bound for the parking lot. Blake and her parents followed just behind them.

Just as they reached the parking lot, Ruby suddenly paused and turned to her sister, puzzled.

"Yang? Did you call me?"

"Huh? No. What-"

"Ruby!"

Again, she heard her name, and the brunette turned around.

Weiss was running toward her waving, and Ruby had her family halt. Weiss carefully slipped around Blake's family and came to a halt in front of Ruby, hands on her knees as she panted for breath.

"Weiss!" Ruby cried. "What's wrong?"

"N-Nothing's... wrong..." she gasped. "My father decided... I-I can come!" she said, lifting her head with a smile.

Ruby felt her jaw drop, and then her heart soar.

"Really?!"

"Yes..." Weiss straightened up and ran a hand through her bangs. "I'll text him your address, and he'll pick me up later. I can celebrate with all of you."

Blake and Yang shared joyful smiles, and with a squeal of delight, Ruby hugged Weiss once again.

Together, the four girls headed to their respective cars, Ruby insisting that Weiss take the middle seat between Yang and herself.

That afternoon, the four of them had their first belt celebration party together, playing games, watching movies, and enjoying cookies all the while.

They didn't know it at the time, but it was only the first of many.

* * *

 **A/N: Alright, so lots more info here, huh? Forms are also called pom se and there are plenty of videos and things you can watch to help you visualize what they look like. You could also look up the different kind of kicks and what they look like in action if you want~**

 **Again, any questions, please ask! Oh, and both this chapter and the first chapter's titles are actually phrases of my own school's different belt meanings!**

 **Next chapter, you'll get some insight on a tournament!**

 **If you like my work, you can support me as Kiria Alice on !**

 **Please review!**


	3. The Enrichment Of Summer

**Thanks for reading! Now we'll see a bit of the sparring and tournament things (at least the kind I'm familiar with, drama and all).**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own RWBY.**

* * *

Chapter 3. The Enrichment Of Summer

Together with her friends and sister, Ruby achieved two more belt ranks within the next year.

At white belt, she'd learned the first form as well as all of the basic kicks, blocks, and strikes.

At yellow belt, she'd learned the second form, in addition to slightly more difficult kicks and blocks.

At present, she was a seasoned orange belt, scheduled to test for green in less than another month.

Weiss had already achieved green, putting Yang and Blake at blue, and Velvet and her friends at red.

Past the rank of green, there was an additional activity students were encouraged to participate in.

Sparring wasn't for everyone, but with one class held every Friday, they were all required to take at least one sparring class per month.

Ruby didn't have to attend yet, so she often sat behind the counter in the carpeted area with her father or mother to observe the class. She'd first seen Blake and Yang take the sparring class, and Ruby had initially laughed at the sight of them in the required gear.

On top of their uniforms and belts, they had to wear large chest protector pieces, arm guards, and leg guards. Being weighed down and restricted by the extra armor was more than enough to effect anyone's performance in the martial art, prevent them from kicking as high as they were able to, and hindered them from stretching properly. It was certainly a challenge, but it came with the territory of a martial artist.

The sparring class mainly consisted of drills and workout routines, followed by practicing different moves like dodges and attack techniques, and finally several minutes of matches at the end of class.

The key to sparring was to keep light and fast on one's feet, which was why people had anticipated that Ruby would be an excellent sparrer when her time came.

But for now, she simply watched on the sidelines as her sister and the other students were taught the ways of sparring.

For their first match ever, Blake and Yang were partnered against one another with Instructor Oobleck as the referee. Sparring was his main class, as he was a very speedy man who could easily keep up with the fighters.

Blake experienced just how difficult it was for her to kick another person. All her life she had been against violence in just about any form, and she surely didn't like the idea of striking Yang.

So for their first-ever match, Blake was committed to dodging, and she was good at it. No matter how many times Yang swung a roundhouse kick or aimed a punch, the best she could do was graze Blake's chest piece, but never enough for it to be considered a point.

Ruby had assumed this meant Blake was the winner, but after Oobleck declared the match over, he spoke otherwise.

"Blake! Your dodges are exquisite, just-! Exquisite! Your speed is your best ally. Unfortunately! In sparring, you are required to get points! _Points_ , I say! Dodging constantly won't get you any of those! If a match ends up like this one where neither competitor has any points, the match goes to the person who attempted attack more. In this case-" He grabbed Yang's arm and lifted it high. "Yang is the victor. Even so, this was a very good experience for the both of you for your very first match. Good job I say! Now have a seat and let's watch the red belts spar, shall we? See how it's done!"

Yang and Blake hobbled over to the wall-side of the dojang and sat down, panting and wiping their sleeves over their foreheads.

"Geez..." Yang huffed. "I never knew you were so fast, Blake! You're always best at the forms and stuff which are a lot slower."

"Even so, it's like Instructor Oobleck said. In sparring, I need to attack if I want to win. It's just going to take some getting used to."

"Yeah, don't worry about it! You'll get used to it with more training."

"Yeah," the Faunus girl nodded. "Now let me tell you how great your kicks were – even if you missed," she said with a playful smirk. Yang smiled and pushed her lightly.

From their resting spots, they watched the next match that had been called to the center of the room. Velvet was sparring Fox.

The boy had been sparring long enough to know exactly how high he should be kicking to aim a point, and his exceptional hearing allowed him to decipher which way a person was facing and even how they were angled.

Normally, during a workout or matches, there was loud, energetic, remixed music playing to motivate students and to lessen the risk of awkwardness, until curriculum lessons were to begin. But for Fox's match, the instructors always turned the music off so he could hear properly.

This also benefitted Velvet, as she also had exceptional hearing.

The two competitors bowed to one another and then took up their stances.

Yang caught Ruby's eye from the sitting area beside the dojang; her little sister was leaning eagerly over the counter, and their father had to pull her back a bit so she wouldn't fall over.

The match commenced, and everyone fell silent. There was only the sound of feet bouncing on the mats, and a few loud huffs for breath.

With a short yell, Velvet made the first move, throwing a roundhouse kick with her right leg. It looked like it should have connected, but Fox managed to dodge by skipping closer, and out of her range. He threw a punch to move her back a bit, then followed through with a kick of his own. There was a loud thud against Velvet's chest gear, and Oobleck called the point for Fox.

As the match continued, Ruby was mesmerized by their unique sparring styles. She noticed how each person's stance was different, how they both had different ways of bouncing and keeping light on their feet.

She even noticed the specific patterns they seemed to have – how often they kicked with one leg versus the other, or how often they tried to aim a spinning kick of any kind.

She was doing her best to keep quiet throughout Fox's and Velvet's match, until at last it was deemed over. Fox was victorious.

Velvet sighed as she caught her breath.

"One day, Fox," she said with a smile. "One day I'll best you! Just you wait!"

He nodded, also smiling as he patted the girl's shoulder and led her back to their friends waiting to shower them both with compliments.

That was the first time Ruby had ever witnessed a sparring class, but it was two weeks later when Weiss attended one.

This was the only department where Weiss was doing the bare minimum for participation – only one class a month. She absolutely loathed wearing the heavy, sweaty gear over her uniform. She would much rather observe a sparring match than participate in one.

She was a little above average at best with most physical training, but it was clear that she excelled in the mental stages above all else. The mental was just as important as the physical in taekwondo, which most people tended to assume wasn't the case. The mindset is not inferior to the physical body – in fact, in a way, it may arguably be _more_ important.

Either way, Weiss wasn't very good with sparring, and she didn't fancy the idea of taking the classes, but she wasn't about to start slacking off in that field just because she didn't like it.

As a current green belt, she was now sparring against her fellow classmates. And although they always went through kicking drills and practiced different kicks, dodges, and attacks beforehand, when it came time to actually spar, Weiss faltered.

Sparring Pyrrha was an experience Weiss was conflicted about. It was clear that the crimson-haired girl was more skilled with it than Weiss was; Weiss had seen her spar the boys, and Pyrrha was always throwing combinations of kicks rapid-fire, yelling shout after shout as she scored up to ten points per match.

But when she was partnered with Weiss, Pyrrha always seemed to be taking it easy on her. Every point Weiss got – few as they were – she felt that Pyrrha was _letting_ her get them. She wasn't earning those points herself.

And when Pyrrha kicked her, it never had much of an impact. Weiss had once seen her send Sun back against the wall with a simple roundhouse kick. Pyrrha took it easy on Weiss, and that always miffed the latter to an extent.

But Pyrrha was the best opponent for her to be pitted against simply for the sake of feeling what it was like to score a point at all.

Neptune had a lot of height on Weiss, and with the gear restricting her, it was next to impossible to angle her body in such a way that allowed her to kick as high as his chest piece. Meanwhile, the blue-haired boy seemed to have no trouble aiming lower and landing points on her.

Despite the unchangeable height difference between them that leaned in Neptune's favor, Weiss didn't mind being hit all that much.

At least he wasn't holding back on her.

But after every match of theirs, Neptune always hurried over to Weiss with concerned eyes and a frown to ask, "Are you okay? You didn't get hurt, did you?"

And that was Weiss' next turn-off to sparring. She didn't need to be treated like a child. She didn't need to be babied and pampered and given unfair advantages and be "taken easy" on.

Which was why she surprisingly found Sun to be her favorite sparring partner.

His agility and flexibility even with the gear on was nothing short of impressive, and Weiss assumed it was because of his Faunus heritage. His tail allowed him fairly good balance, and he never held back on his kicks. Not even jumping back kicks or tornado kicks. Sun liked to take risks and use the back-turning kicks, which would earn two points instead of one if they landed a hit.

Weiss appreciated that he didn't go easy on her or act excessively concerned. But every time she faced him, she ended up winded on her back.

She didn't have the necessary bulk to counter such fierce kicks, and after going down three times in a single match, it was called off and Sun was proclaimed the winner.

The smallest mercy though, was that Sun always reached down a hand to help her up, and didn't make Weiss roll around like a turtle on its back to stand with the sparring gear. She never hesitated to take his hand. She just appreciated that he didn't treat her specially when it came to sparring matches.

To better her skills, Weiss soon opted to try attending two sparring classes per month instead of just one.

Though Ruby remained on the sidelines for now, she really loved watching all of her fellow classmates spar. She had to wonder what kind of techniques Jaune, Nora, and Ren would use when they all started these classes together.

But that wouldn't be for a little while yet. Before their next belt test, there was an even bigger event on the horizon.

The annual tournament was nearing.

When Ozpin and his fellows had been students in training in their younger years, their old master had taken them to the very same tournament. They knew what to expect in the competition, and knew how to train their students for it.

Ozpin had attended the previous year, taking only Coco, Velvet, Fox, Yatsuhashi, Sage, and Scarlet as his school's competitors.

Ruby and the others hadn't been of the necessary belt ranks to attend at the time, so they had stayed home and rested that day. But they'd all heard plenty of news from their upperclassmen.

The tournament consisted of numerous other taekwondo schools traveling to a single convention center to hold joint competitions. They competed against other schools' students in the departments of forms, breaking, and sparring for medals and trophies.

Last year, Ozpin's highest ranked students had only been orange belts at the time, so none of them had sparred. But this year, that would be different.

As opposed to his group of six last year, now Ozpin would be taking twenty students, a much more formidable number. Everyone from the lowest rank to the highest would be competing in the forms and breaking departments. But only students ranked green belt or higher could compete in sparring in the tournament, and sparring wasn't a required field.

Blake was opting not to compete for that, as was Scarlet. But the red belts, Sage, the other blue belts, and all of the green belts were going to compete. Even Weiss.

She'd resolved herself to do this for several reasons.

Firstly was that she wanted to improve herself in sparring, secondly because she wanted to make her father proud, and finally because she wanted to experience what it would be like to spar someone she'd never faced before.

In the weeks before the tournament, all students at Ozpin's school took extra classes per week to perfect their respective techniques. Weiss came to all four sparring classes that month.

Each day, there was a new layer of excitement and anticipation in the air. This year, Ozpin's students were determined to make him proud.

They'd all heard unfavorable rumors about last year from Coco and her friends.

Last year, Ozpin's students – few as their had been competing – had won him a trophy at the end of the day. They'd been one of the few schools whose students had all received at least one gold medal, and so the headmasters accordingly award the masters of those schools with a small golden trophy to demonstrate how well they had trained their students.

In Ozpin's past, back when he'd worked his way up through every belt color alongside Glynda, Peter, and Bartholomew, there had been a few other students who had trained alongside him. Their names were Cinder and Roman.

When their old master had retired and the school had closed down, Ozpin had offered to have the two join his school. But Cinder had suavely refused his offer. They'd never really gotten along; they'd simply happened to train together in the same classes. Glynda despised Cinder, and the feelings were more or less mutual all around.

Cinder and Roman had always been a bit more violent, often branching off from their old master's ways and making their own rules. Cinder had started her own school several towns away from Ozpin's, and he could only imagine what she trained her students to be like there.

Ozpin and his staff were firm to the belief that taekwondo was a gentle martial art, more about a sound mind and healthy body than it was about winning first place every time.

Due to their unsavory histories, when Ozpin and his students had encountered Cinder and her own students at the tournament last year, the bows exchanged had been a bit begrudging.

After Ozpin had been awarded his trophy, he had set it down on one of the judges tables for a moment so he could retrieve his car keys, intending to put the trophy in his trunk for safekeeping. But when he'd returned a minute later, it had vanished.

He'd never said anything other than it had been "misplaced", but given what they knew of Cinder's dishonest teaching methods, Ozpin's students had concluded she'd stolen it.

They'd managed to refrain from confronting Cinder or her students about it, but when Ozpin's school had driven home that day, there had been an air of sadness about their master.

Which was why they were all determined to win him a trophy again this year.

They all trained hard, even Cardin and his friends. If they were going to succeed with this, all twenty of them would need to receive at least one gold medal in the tournament.

They all focused on their strengths and poured their energy into perfecting those things in particular.

Pyrrha helped Jaune with his board-breaking; more often than not, sheer dumb luck was on his side, and he'd end up breaking the board even if he struck it incorrectly. But it was his safest bet for getting gold.

Ruby focused on her breaks as well, as did Yang – kicking was her best department, after all. Blake and Ren focused on their forms, as did Velvet and Yatsuhashi, and Sage and Scarlet. And even though he was blind, Fox was permitted to compete, and he intended to impress the judges with his breaking based off hearing alone. Coco practiced with him.

And then there was Weiss.

Her father had become a bit less strict with her over the months since she'd joined, allowing her to visit Ruby and Yang's house to have fun every now and again. And during her last belt test when she'd brought him her broken board, he had even gone so far as to smile.

But he was still pushing her a bit with her first tournament coming up. Not many green belt students competed in all three fields of sparring, breaking, and forms in the tournament; most people tended to select only two, especially if they were below the rank of blue belts.

But Weiss was hellbent on proving herself to her father, and to herself, so she'd signed up to compete in all three.

They all trained hard, particularly in the final week.

And before Ruby knew it, it was time.

. . .

The tournament took place on a Saturday, and it was almost an hour drive to get there.

Ruby literally jumped out of her top bunk bed when her alarm went off at 6AM, and she landed on the floor with a _thump_ before diving into Yang's bunk to shake her.

"Yang, let's go! Get up!"

Her sister moaned.

"Five more minutes..."

"No way! This is our first tournament _ever_ , you dummy! Do you wanna be late?"

With another groan, Yang pushed herself up and stretched, cracking her back, neck, and shoulders. Ruby zipped into the bathroom to change into her uniform and tie on her belt. She grabbed her three boards of breaking wood that Ozpin had given her a few days ago; each competitor was responsible for bringing their own boards to the tournament with them.

In under half an hour, the entire Rose-Xiao Long family was awake and ready to go.

Their father and mother sat in the front seats of the car as Yang and Ruby piled into the back excitedly. They stopped by Blake's house, and the Faunus family got into their car and followed them to their destination.

They stopped once to buy bagels and coffee for breakfast and ate as they were driven.

The sun was just rising as they drove down the highway, dyeing the sky in yellows and pinks. Yang dozed a bit in the car, but Ruby was far too excited for that.

When at last they reached the designated building of the convention center, Ruby's jaw dropped.

The parking lot was already filled with cars, and all around there were people wearing uniforms similar to hers. Her own school had a tiger design on the back, but some schools had a dragon or various symbols or flags. Some uniforms had black collars and some had white, some belts had stripes and some had tapes. Each school was clearly marked and different from the next.

Just in the parking lot alone, Ruby saw so much diversity in the art styles of taekwondo.

They found a spot to park, and once Blake's family had as well, Ruby and Yang raced over to her car. Blake hopped out, dressed in her full white uniform, her golden eyes bright, though slightly tired. Ruby threw her arms around the older girl excitedly.

"We're here!" she sang. "Our very first tournament! This is gonna be soooo much fun!"

Blake chuckled and patted the girl's back.

"It's good to see you've got so much energy so early in the morning."

"Of course I do! Today's tournament day!" She released Blake, and Yang moved in for the next hug.

The girls all grabbed their breaking boards, and Yang slung her sparring bag over her shoulder.

Together, the two families started off toward the main building.

In the front lobby, they gave their names and school, and were directed to a certain table. The three girls were handed name tags that listed their individual belt rank, weight, and which sections they would be competing in.

Ruby's and Blake's tags had _form_ and _breaking_ checked off, while Yang's had _breaking_ and _sparring_. Had she decided to compete in forms as well, she likely would have had to compete against Blake, since they were the same age and belt rank. Yang would have much rather tried her luck at sparring than face the Faunus girl in her best field.

They slipped on their name tags and entered the auditorium.

The ceiling was easily two hundred feet high, with bright lights shining down all around. Before them, the hard floor had been covered with portable red and blue mats, which had been spread out into ten rings. Each group of competitors would be competing in one of these rings, run by different schools and their staff.

Ozpin's school had their own table. The masters themselves weren't allowed to participate directly and were present more so for overseeing things and resolving issues rather than scoring competitors.

But Glynda, Peter, and Bartholomew were all working together to run one ring, and the instructors and volunteers of other schools ran different rings.

As they walked toward the bleachers to find a place to sit for now, Ruby recognized that some of her classmates had already arrived.

The red belts were all here already, and so was Weiss. Like many other students were, she was practicing her form by herself on the open space of the wooden floor – once the tournament officially began, they'd be called into the rings to compete.

As soon as she saw her friend, Ruby raced over to Weiss, her sneakers squeaking to a stop on the polished floor.

"Weiss!" she called, throwing her arms around the girl.

Weiss had been in the middle of the form when she was plowed into, but she quickly found her balance and managed to return the zealous embrace.

"Ruby! You dunce... good morning."

"Morniiiiing!" she sang. "We're here, Weiss, we're really, really here! We're at the tournameeeent!"

"I'm wellaware," she chuckled.

Blake and Yang made their way over to the pair as their parents got seats on the bleachers.

"Morning!" Yang grinned to Weiss. "Geez, you're here early. What time did you get here?"

"Six forty-five."

"What?!" Yang shrieked.

"God..." Blake winced. "What time did you wake up?"

"About five thirty."

"Oh my god, Weiss!" Ruby shrieked. "How did you do _that?_ Even for tournament day, that's waaay too early! Did you at least eat breakfast?"

"Of course I did," Weiss replied. "My father merely wanted to ensure I was here early and had some extra time to practice before things got started."

The other three shared glances with one another.

"Welp," Yang said. "Now we're all here together! So let's practice our stuff!"

They removed their shoes and socks, leaving their breaking boards and sparring bags with their parents on the bleachers.

The four girls practiced their forms together, and their upperclassmen came by to give them a few last-minute pointers.

"Remember," Velvet told them. "If you get called up to do your form more than once, that's a good thing! It means you won against your first opponent and you're competing against another winner. So you've at least got second place already!"

"And," Coco added. "Make sure you check _all_ of your board holders first _before_ you start kickin'. You should break all three boards right in a row without having to stop in between. Also, try not to be so nervous, okay? Even if you don't get gold or silver, it's not the end of the world. This is only you guys' first tournament, so there's always room for improvement next year."

With wishes of good luck exchanged between the groups, the red belts headed off toward their school's ring to greet the instructors.

Ruby and the others continued stretching and practicing for a while longer, greeting their fellow students as they arrived.

Pyrrha walked in with Jaune stumbling behind her, clearly overwhelmed by everything. Nora was skipping and bounding joyfully alongside Ren's calmer pace. Sun and Neptune arrived together as well, and before long all of Ozpin's students were present.

There were about two dozen other schools present as well, and hundreds of other students. Combined with the families and friends tagging along, the large, spacious room was filled within an hour.

Ruby and the others stopped by Ozpin's table and said hello to their instructors. There was only a small fraction of a chance that they would end up in this ring for their individual competitions, so their mentors made sure to wish them all good luck now.

"Now remember," Glynda told the four girls. "The tournament goes in order of belt ranks. So the lowest ranks will be going first, followed by higher ranks. You girls should be called to prepare for your competitions fairly early on in the day. Be sure to listen for the announcements."

"Yes, ma'am!" Yang said. "Got it!"

"Best of luck to all of you. Do your best," the Head Instructor replied.

Ozpin wasn't at the table, and Ruby assumed he was walking about or conversing with other schools' masters, overseeing the tournament as a whole.

The four girls went back to the bleachers area and found their fellows, who were reviewing their things a few more times before the competition began.

Pyrrha went around to each and every person from her school and wished them best of luck, going so far as to hug all of the girls.

"Everyone just do your best!" she said. "Let's have a grand time today!"

"Yeah!" they cheered in unison.

At last, the din of the congested room was overpowered by a greater sound. The loudspeakers came on to start giving announcements.

They asked for all students yellow belt to blue belt from ages 9 to 12 to gather in a specific waiting area so they may be called out and brought to their respective rings.

Presently, only younger students were being called, so Ruby and her friends didn't budge. Though they did all share glances with one another, and it was quite obvious that they were anxious and more or less wanted to be called as soon as possible.

"Hey," Yang said. "How about we all have a drink, guys? We're gonna need it."

She ushered them over to the bleachers and called out to her father. He reached into a small bag they'd brought along and extracted four water bottles, handing them to Yang one by one.

Each girl thanked him before taking a drink. Ruby was parched, and she hadn't realized it until now, so she started to chug until Weiss tapped her shoulder to make her stop.

"Don't guzzle it down like that, you dunce," she scolded. "Do you _want_ to give yourself cramps during the tournament?"

Sheepishly, Ruby put the bottle down.

Before long, groups of younger students were being brought onto the rings to start competing. Ruby and the others observed them from the edges of the rings, seeing how the competitors were partnered up based on age, belt rank, and sex, then seeing how they were judged for forms and breaking.

A pair of students – both from different schools, one labeled as red and the other as blue – would compete simultaneously for their forms. Three judges would then select either red or blue to determine who was the undisputed winner. This process would repeat until all of the students in a particular group had participated.

Then, the group would move onto breaking techniques. Each person would perform all of their breaks in a row, and the judges would then score them with number sheets where they could flip the pages. Judges increased or decreased a person's score based on how accurate they were in their kicking, whether they broke the boards on their first try, and how powerful they were.

Ruby gathered all of this information, making sure to remember it for when she would be called up to compete.

It was only about ten minutes later when the fourteen-year-old orange belt girls were being called to the waiting area for preparation.

With a squeak of nervousness, Ruby ran to grab her three breaking boards from her mother who kissed her and wished her luck. Ruby hugged both of her parents before hopping nervously off the bleachers.

"Ahhh, th-they said I should go to the waiting area. Wh-Where's that?" she fretted.

"Chill, baby sis!" Yang said, ruffling Ruby's hair.

"That way," Blake nudged the girl. "Through those doors. You'll find it."

"O-Okay..." Ruby mumbled. Her heart was starting to pound, and the others could see just how nervous she was.

Yang gave her sister a big hug, and then released her so Blake could embrace her as well, softer and a bit more calming. But still, Ruby was shaking.

When the Faunus girl released her, golden eyes flashed expectantly up at Weiss. The white-haired girl gave a small sigh, but smiled a bit as she walked up to Ruby.

"Ruby," she said, turning the girl around tot face her. "You're going to be _fine_. Don't let your nerves get the better of you. This is our first time at the tournament, too. We're all scared. You're not alone with that."

Weiss opened her arms invitingly. Ruby blinked, a little shocked at the silent offer, but she hurried those few steps forward and hugged Weiss tightly, feeling gentle arms fall around her back.

"Thanks, Weiss," she mumbled into her shoulder. At last, Ruby stepped back and turned to face the others as well. "Thanks, you guys. I'm gonna go do my best!"

With this triumphant declaration, she started marching off toward the doors Blake had pointed towards. They led to a small, enclosed room, which was very quiet compared to outside.

There were about fifteen other girls in her age group and belt rank gathered there, and as she waited to be brought out to the ring with the rest of them, Ruby tried to remember all of the advice her instructors and upperclassmen had told her.

She jolted when she felt a sudden tap on her shoulder.

"Heya! I'm here too!" Nora beamed at her.

"Ahhhh, Nora!" Ruby hugged her friend vigorously. "I forgot you'd be with me! I'm so glad!"

They stretched themselves out a bit, and Ruby offered a few timid, but excited 'hi's to a few of the other girls. Some of them ignored her, but a few of them smiled back and wished her luck.

After a few more minutes, an adult came by to lead them to their ring. All of the girls picked up their boards and followed along.

They were led to a ring run by a school Ruby didn't know.

At first, she'd wished it had been her own school's ring, but she later realized she wanted to be judged by people who didn't know her personally. This was for the better.

The girls all sat down on the sides of the ring as name cards were collected and given to the head table. Information was scribbled down onto paper Ruby couldn't see, until at last, the referee started calling up names.

Ruby wasn't in the first pair competing for her form, so she sat back and watched the other two. She judged for herself which one she thought had the better technique, louder voice, and most powerful blocks. The judges ended up selecting the same person for the winner as Ruby had.

The next pair of girls went up, and then the next, and Ruby started to grow anxious.

With the next pair, Nora was called up in the 'red' spot, and Ruby watched her friend eagerly. But in the end, two of the judges held up the blue card, and Ruby knew Nora had lost. Even so, she was proud of her friend.

Finally, Ruby's name was called and she replied with a loud, "Yes, sir!" as she stood and walked to the center of the ring. She remembered to bow to the head table and to the judges before stepping into her ready position.

 _Don't worry about your opponent_ , she reminded herself. _Even if we're doing the same form, I don't have to keep pace with her. I go at my own pace._

The command to begin was given by the referee, and Ruby didn't hesitate for a second. She started right away, going over all of the motions just as Blake had always trained her to before class, and Weiss had helped her with during.

She put as much power and force behind each motion as she could, aiming high above her head for the few kicks and yelling loudest of all on her final motion. Once she'd finished, she remained still until given the order to sit down.

The judges behind her gave their scores to the head table, and Ruby wouldn't know if she'd won until either herself or her partner was called up to compete against someone else.

She watched the other girls compete, then began to notice when some of the same people were being called up again. But she herself wasn't one of them.

Once the forms were finished, the referee called each girl up by name, lining them up into three lines. Everyone in Ruby's line – Nora included – had received third place.

Even though her first tournament medal ever was a bronze, Ruby was far from discouraged. She was still so excited and proud to receive it, shaking the referee's hand and thanking him and the judges profusely before sitting back down.

A glance to the bleachers showed her parents were waving at her, and also very proud.

But Yang and the others were nowhere to be seen, and so she assumed they had all been called to the waiting area to prepare themselves.

Glancing around the room now, Ruby caught sight of a few of her friends.

The orange belt boys were competing a few rings away, and she could see Jaune sitting on the edge of the ring waiting his turn. But Nora pointed out who was competing presently.

"This is Ren's third time going already! That means he's got at _least_ second place right now!"

Ren was in a ring across the room, but they got a fairly clear view of him from where they sat. They watched as their friend finished his technique and was asked to kneel down. Ren was in the 'blue' spot, and all three judges held up their blue card.

Nora and Ruby both squealed in delight and hugged one another.

"He did it!" Nora cheered. "He got gold!"

They watched from afar as Ren was awarded a gold medal, and Jaune received bronze.

By that time, their own ring's referee was ready to begin breaking.

Ruby and Nora directed their attention back to the first girl competing in front of them. They watched three other girls perform, each getting scores around 7's, before Nora was called up.

She had the people holding her boards position them just as she'd trained. Nora focused on high jumping-kicks, and each board was held above her head-height. When she was ready, she bowed to the head table and judges before beginning.

In rapid succession, she performed a jumping front-snap, jumping roundhouse, and jumping ax kick, breaking all three boards on her first try as her yell echoed around the room.

Ruby saw she received all 8's and clapped excitedly for her friend.

When it was Ruby's turn, her techniques focused less on height and more on power. She performed a skipping side-kick, a back kick, and a power punch. She, too, managed to break all three boards on her first try.

After that, there was nothing left to do but wait.

Casting her gaze about, she spotted Weiss two rings over. She hadn't started competing yet and was merely kneeling respectfully at the side of the ring. Ruby sent her silent wishes of good luck.

At last, she, Nora, and the other orange belt girls were called up to receive their breaking medals. Ruby had to refrain from screaming for joy when she was given gold.

"We did it!" she sang to Nora. "We each got one gold!"

"Yeah!" Nora cheered. "We're gonna get Master Ozpin his trophy if it's the last thing we do!"

After one final bow, the orange belt girls were dismissed.

Nora ran over to watch Ren's group finish up, while Ruby headed instantly for Weiss' ring. She had missed her friend compete in her form, but when she looked closely, she could see a blue ribbon resting on top of Weiss' still-unbroken boards. That meant she'd gotten gold in her form.

Ruby congratulated her silently.

Pyrrha had also gotten gold by the looks of it.

Neptune and Sun were in the boy's green belt ring and were too far off to tell, but Ruby had faith they'd done well, too.

 _We can get Master Ozpin that trophy!_

After a while, Pyrrha performed her breaking: a high jumping-roundhouse kick, a flying side-kick, and a reverse chop. She executed all of them flawlessly, and received the highest number score Ruby had seen yet today.

Then it was Weiss' turn. Her routine consisted of a high jumping front-snap kick, a double roundhouse kick, and a downward chop.

Ruby watched with crossed fingers as her friend bowed and began. Weiss gave a yell, breaking her first board easily and with perfect grace. But she missed the first board of her double roundhouse, only breaking the second. She quickly tried again and got it on the second try, but knew her score had suffered significantly now. The downward chop was successful, but in the end, she walked away with silver.

Pyrrha had received two golds, and Ruby was glad for both of them, but knew Weiss was probably beating herself up a thousand times over.

There was a break in the action as the girls who weren't sparring were permitted to leave. During that time, Ruby slipped closer to the ring and reached Weiss.

"Weiss! You did awesome!"

"Ruby?" The green belt girl smiled sadly. "Maybe you think so. But for me, that was just embarrassing."

"Hey, it's okay! You got silver! That's still amazing!" Ruby hugged her quickly. Weiss sighed but smiled, unable to feel upset when Ruby was like this towards her.

"How did you do?" she wondered.

"I got a bronze in form and a gold in breaking! And so did Nora! And we saw Ren get a gold in forms, too!"

"That's very good," Weiss said. "I just worry about that noodle boy..."

"I'm sure Jaune'll luck out!"

"I hope so," Weiss chuckled. "But you should go now. I need to get ready for my sparring match."

Pyrrha walked over to them then with a grin.

"I'll help you with your gear!" she offered.

Ruby left them for now, deciding to seek out Yang and Blake in the meantime. She spotted them in the next ring over.

Blake was just finishing her form. Ruby saw the precision and power of her blocks even from this distance. The judges all held up the blue card for her, making her the undisputed victor.

Yang wasn't competing in form; if she had, she likely only would have gotten silver at best.

Blake received her gold medal, and then the breaking began.

From where she stood, Ruby heard Yang's energetic shouts as she shattered all of her boards, and she could see the judges' eyes widen, impressed. She received gold, and Blake got silver.

Weiss' sparring match should have started by then, but there were a lot of other girls sparring in her ring as well, and Weiss was set for the final match.

So Ruby darted over to Yang's ring to watch her spar in the meantime.

Dressed in her bulky gear, her long hair swaying in its ponytail, Yang looked pretty intimidating.

Her opponent, however...

Her opponent was at least five inches shorter and remarkably petite. The gear was huge on her, and she looked as though she might get bowled over by a gust of wind. Her hair was a swirling mix of brown and pink in its ponytail, her eyes equally as peculiar.

Ruby met her sister's puzzled gaze. Yang didn't want to be rude, but she asked the head table if this girl was really supposed to be her opponent. She clearly weighed less than Yang did, which put her at a huge disadvantage in sparring.

But the judges assured her that it was permissible.

So Yang followed the referee's commands and took up her position in the center of the ring, across form her smirking opponent. The two girls were wearing all of the proper gear aside from the helmets; in this tournament, kicks to the neck or face were prohibited.

They bowed to one another, long ponytails falling down over their shoulders before they straightened up and took up their fighting stances.

Ruby could see the other girl's uniform now; Yang's opponent was from Cinder's school.

Blake moved up beside Ruby and watched the match commence.

Right away, Yang yelled and threw a kick, but her opponent dodged easily. Yang's countenance was firm and serious; she wasn't about to judge this girl based on her size alone.

The girl dodged another of her kicks before spinning like a ballerina, aiming a rapid-fire round of double kicks and back kicks at Yang. She was so fast the blonde hardly had the time to react. She managed to block a few of the blows, but she heard the point-giving _thud_ against her gear at least three times.

With a growl, Yang kicked again, but her adversary kept dodging, gliding around her hits like a breeze, the smirk never leaving her face all the while.

"Whoa..." Ruby mumbled. "That girl's so good."

"Almost _too_ good..." Blake agreed. "If it was possible to cheat in sparring, I'd say she was doing it. But she's just... _really_ good."

By the time the first round had ended, Yang hadn't scored a single point. Blake ran to grab her a bottle of water and handed it to her friend.

"The hell is that girl?" Yang snorted. "She doesn't even yell when she kicks. She's just... silent. It's weird!"

"I don't know..." Blake said. "Just do your best."

"Yeah..."

Yang already knew she wasn't going to win this, but she'd at least hoped to score a single point on this girl – Neo, as the ref called her.

But at the end of the final round, Yang hadn't scored any points at all, and her opponent had a total of nine. Yang received her bronze metal and Neo smugly took her gold before shedding her gear and scampering off.

Ruby helped untie her sister's gear and Blake helped remove her arm and leg guards. Once she was free of her gear and had put it back into her bag, Yang sighed and slumped into Blake's arms.

"I'm beat... literally."

"It's okay. You'll win next year."

"Yeah!" Ruby said, squeezing her sister from behind. "You still did awesome, Yang! And you got gold in breaking!"

"Yeah... that's true..." Yang straightened up, and for the first time looked to the medals hanging around her sister's neck. "Bronze and gold! Way to go, sis!"

"Thanks!"

"Oh." Blake's ears perked up. "Weiss' match is starting. Let's go."

They hurried back to Weiss' ring. Her gear was flipped to the blue side and her opponent wore red.

The referee called Weiss' name and then the other girl – Emerald. She had tan skin and long, moss-colored hair that was tied in a low ponytail. Judging by her uniform, she was from the same school as Neo – Cinder's school.

Weiss knew as much, and she was determined to give this girl a run for her money.

They bowed to one another, then got into their kicking stances. The ref shouted for them to begin.

Instantly, Weiss threw a roundhouse kick, successfully catching her opponent off-guard. She followed up with a punch to push her back, and then two consecutive kicks. Emerald hissed and dodged the last of them, but Weiss had scored a point.

Talking wasn't permitted for the fighters during a match, but Weiss could hear everything this girl wanted to say simply by look at her irked expression.

But Weiss wasn't about to let herself get cocky; this was only the start of the first round.

She dodged a tornado kick, but Emerald scored some points with swift skipping-kicks. Weiss tied the match with another flurry of side-steps and push-kicks.

By the end of the first match, they were evenly scored.

"You can do it, Weiss!" Ruby cheered excitedly.

"Keep it up!" Blake called.

"You got this!" Yang added.

Pyrrha had joined them to watch as well, also calling encouragement to her friend. Their school's purple and red belts were presently competing, but the other orange belts came to watch Weiss' match as well.

The second round commenced, and the ref confirmed they were indeed tied.

Ruby tried to keep her eyes on Weiss, but she looked up when she noticed an unfamiliar woman standing on the other side of the ring. She was dressed in a black suit, her ashen hair covering one shoulder and one half of her face. Only the masters were dressed so formally at this event.

Ruby instantly knew this woman was Cinder. She felt a shiver go up her spine. The woman's red lips were curved into a wicked smile, her eyes trained on Emerald.

Weiss scored another point with a roundhouse kick, and her classmates cheered for her.

But Ruby's cheer was cut short when she noticed Cinder's smile turn to a frown. Her eyes narrowed as she met Emerald's gaze. There seemed to be something communicated between them in that instant.

Ruby saw the green-haired girl nod ever so slightly to her master.

Then, Ruby's excited cheers for Weiss abruptly cut off.

Horror seized her and made her stomach clench as she watched Emerald jump suddenly, spinning in midair. She performed a tornado kick, but she didn't aim at Weiss' chest piece.

Instead, her foot slammed into the side of Weiss' head full-force.

Weiss yelped in pain as she lost her footing, her ankle twisting as she stumbled beneath the force of the dizzying hit.

But even after the ref had instantly shouted to stop the match, Emerald kicked Weiss again to shove her forward.

Weiss crashed into the judges' table, and all of the adults shot up from their seats in alarm. They had to physically restrain Emerald to prevent her from attacking further.

Horrified gasps and shouts went up all around.

"Oh my god!"

"She's not allowed to do that!"

"That was an illegal hit! And it was intentional!"

But Ruby hardly heard her friends' and sister's outraged cries. Her heart was pounding as she raced into the ring, collapsing onto her knees at Weiss' side even before the adults could reach her.

"Weiss! Weiss?!" she screamed.

Her friend was lying on her side, dangerously short of breath, her cheeks streaked with tears. Blood trickled from her nose and was staining the collar of her white uniform.

Ruby made quick work of untying her chest piece and tossing it away, allowing Weiss to breathe a bit easier.

There was chaos all around as masters rushed into the ring, and someone was calling for medical assistance.

Blake and Yang had pushed their way in beside Ruby. The Faunus girl pulled Weiss' leg gear off and Yang tended to her arms. Ruby cradled Weiss' head in her lap, her own eyes already overflowing with terrified tears. She used her sleeve to wipe a bit of the blood away from Weiss' face.

"Weiss? W-Weiss, can you hear me?"

The girl only moaned, her breath short and labored in between little sobs of pain.

Ruby could hear the arguments erupting behind her, the adults shouting about how Emerald's hit had been deliberate and illegal. Ruby could only hunch forward and cry into Weiss' shoulder, her fingers clinging weakly to her friend's uniform.

"Weiss... Weiss..."

Yang and Blake hovered over them as well, and Pyrrha and the others flagged down Ozpin from across the room.

Yang had unstrapped one of Weiss' arm guards and put it aside, but the second she lifted the girl's left arm, Weiss shrieked in pain. Ruby gasped and clung tighter to her friend to prevent her from moving too much and injuring herself further. Yang hissed a curse.

"Shit... I think her arm's broken..."

"Oh, god..." Ruby sniffled. "Weiss...? Can you hear me?"

"Give her a minute," Blake murmured in contrast to the yelling above them. "She's badly winded. She can't breathe well."

Ruby continued holding Weiss' head and shoulders in her lap as Blake and Yang waited impatiently for the medics to arrive. Their parents had flocked there as well amongst the rest of the crowd.

Ruby just wished everyone would go argue somewhere else. Her friend was hurt and needed help right now.

At last, a team of medics pushed their way through and had Ruby and the others leave Weiss. They moved her onto a stretcher and rushed her away within minutes.

Ruby watched until they were out of sight before she crumpled into Yang's arms.

"Why..." she sobbed. "Why did that girl do that?"

"I don't know, Ruby," Yang sighed, petting her sister's hair. "I don't know..."

She and Blake helped Ruby to her feet, and together they all stumbled over to their waiting and concerned parents. Weiss' father had followed the medics out.

For about an hour, Weiss' friends sat solemnly on the bleachers, unable to even be happy about their medals and accomplishments here today.

Cinder had argued with Ozpin that Emerald's hit had been an accident, but thankfully, no one was believing her. Emerald had struck above the shoulders and added an additional kick to the chest even after the ref had officially made the call to stop the match.

In the end, the grandmasters agreed that Emerald would forfeit the match and receive no medal, and Cinder and her students slunk away after a long and furious lecture from the other masters. They all disappeared not long afterward, abandoning their ring without a word and causing all sorts of problems for the remaining schools and judges.

Ozpin had gone along with the medics, while Glynda and the other instructors returned to their ring to continue their work.

Presently, Ruby was sitting on the bleachers in between Yang and Blake, their arms around her back and stomach as she rested her head on one's shoulder, and then the other's.

Their friends were sitting on the rows above them. Neptune and Sun were uncharacteristically silent, the latter's tail drooping and limp. Pyrrha was sighing repeatedly, worry prominent in her eyes, and even Nora was silent, along with Jaune and Ren.

The higher belts had finished competing, but had easily caught wind of what had happened. They were still mumbling angrily to one another about how Cinder's school had done it again. Only this year, they hadn't simply stolen a trophy; they'd _hurt_ one of Ozpin's students, one of their precious underclassmen.

Ruby had her eyes closed, her tears having dried half an hour ago, but she was still feeling hollow inside. It was then she felt Blake stir beside her, patting her back gently.

"Hey, look."

Ruby opened her eyes and followed Blake's gaze.

Ozpin had reentered the main room with Weiss' father looking glum at his side as they spoke together. Then, a small figure dressed in white appeared behind them.

Her long hair was down now, released from its ponytail, and her belt had been removed as not to constrict her stomach. The blood had been cleaned from her face, though there were still traces of it on her uniform. Her left arm was in a blue sling, and her eyes were downcast.

But that didn't stop Ruby and the others from jumping up and crying out in relief.

Ruby was faster than the rest of them, and she dashed barefoot across the floor, slipping in between Ozpin and Weiss' father to get to her friend.

"Weiss!" she cried, screeching to a halt in front of her. Ruby was already crying again as she ever-so-gently wrapped her arms around Weiss' shoulders, being sure to avoid her broken arm.

Ruby felt her jolt, and when Weiss spoke, her voice was tired and heavy with surprise.

"Ruby...?"

"Yeah..." she nodded. "It's me, Weiss. Here, come sit down."

She kept an arm on her friend's back and led her to the bleachers where the rest of them were waiting, their eyes sparked in concern and lips curling up into anxious smiles at the sight of their friend.

They all slid closer to Weiss and Ruby, close enough to hear her speak, but made sure to give her some space.

"Are you alright?"

"How's your arm?"

"What did your father say?"

Ruby kept her arms loosely around Weiss, pressing herself to her friend's uninjured side and keeping close to her. She was just glad Weiss hadn't needed to go to the hospital.

But she could feel Weiss sigh weakly, her voice low and tired.

"My father wants me to quit..."

"What?"

"No!"

"You can't!"

Ruby joined in with the protests, but Weiss quickly went on.

"But Master Ozpin convinced him otherwise. He wants me to keep going with this, and after some persuasion, my father agreed."

Her friends released a collective sigh of relief. They took turns explaining to her how Emerald had been denied the medal and Cinder had disappeared with the rest of her school. But more than anything, they all told Weiss how happy they were that she was alright.

"Thank you," she said softly. "My arm won't be better for over a month. I won't really be able to take classes. I might miss my next belt test..." she sighed. "I'll have to take a break for a while... but I'm glad my father isn't making me quit."

"Us, too," Blake said from beside her.

"Yeah!" Yang agreed. "It'd never be the same without you!"

"We love you, Weiss!" Ruby said, hugging her again.

Weiss felt her heart skip a beat as they all proclaimed similar things to her. Never before had she ever felt so accepted, so warm.

She thanked them all again, though Ruby didn't allow anyone else to hug her, so Weiss simply returned the embrace with her good arm.

The heavy atmosphere that had fallen upon them gradually began to dissipate now that they all knew Weiss was going to be fine.

For the last hour or so of the tournament, they all wandered about and observed the other competitors in their rings.

At the end of the day, the students said goodbye to Ozpin and their instructors before heading home. And just to celebrate a bit, Ruby had her parents make plans with Blake's family and Weiss' father.

They all stopped at a restaurant on the way home for dinner. The four girls stayed together at one table, giggling and reminiscing on the better parts of the tournament.

Weiss' dominant hand was unusable, so the others helped her a bit, cutting up her food or steadying her right arm for her.

The adults seemed to be enjoying themselves as well – Ruby even saw Weiss' father smile a few times.

Once they finished up, they all headed out into the parking lot together, and the four girls slipped themselves into a group hug, Weiss cradled gently at the center.

"I won't be able to take classes for a while," she said. "But I'll still come by to watch the rest of you."

"Yeah!" Yang grinned. "And you can come over to our house any time!"

"Feel better," Blake murmured. "We'll be looking forward to when you can come back to train with us again."

"You deserve a break, Weiss!" Ruby said. "You're always working so hard, so just take it easy for now!"

"...Only because you all asked," Weiss smiled.

They wished one another goodnight, and parted ways to their respective family cars.

Thus, they reached another milestone in their journey, taking all of the memories – good, bad, and everything in between – along with them.

* * *

 **A/N: A bit dramatic, I know. But believe it or not, things like that really do happen at tournaments. I've judged and refereed several over the years, and I was surprised at the gall some schools and students have. My own school actually won a trophy once and had it stolen by another school, hence the mention in the fic of Cinder stealing Ozpin's trophy.**

 **Some people really do cheat in sparring matches too, and I've seen the medics get called in plenty of times before. But for the most part, tournaments are about technique and learning other schools' styles by observing the competition (and making friends!). It was a lot to try and squeeze into one chapter, but there's a lot to a tournament. A lot.**

 **Chapter titles explained! The first chapter was "The First Step", which is the beginning of the belt meaning for my own school's white belts. Chapter two "Planting The Seed" is for yellow belts, and symbolizes the beginning of the journey (of taekwondo). This chapter, "The Enrichment Of Summer" is the green belt meaning, so about midway through the journey/belt ranks.**

 **Please support me on as Kiria Alice if you like my work!**

 **Please review!**


	4. The Strength Of Autumn

**This chapter will focus on more in-class things as well as the bonds and relationships between everyone! Hope you enjoy!**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own RWBY.**

* * *

Chapter 4. The Strength Of Autumn

The first day back at classes after the tournament felt strange, and yet almost as though the entire experience had never even happened for Ruby.

Everyone had rested up after the long, hectic day, and now had gotten back into the swing of things as per the usual schedule.

Ozpin had announced that in the middle of the week, they would cancel one of the classes. Instead, he invited every student to come to the dojang with their medals, and to talk about their experiences at the tournament.

Ruby and Yang eagerly gathered their awards and packed them into their bags along with their uniforms, and their parents then took them to the school. As the two sisters rushed back to the changing rooms to put on their uniforms, they came to a halt just after knocking on and opening the door.

Blake was inside the changing room, already in her uniform with her belt tied around her waist. And beside her was Weiss, her head hanging low and her posture slumped as the Faunus girl murmured soft words to her.

As soon as she saw the sisters enter, Blake perked up.

"Hi, Ruby. Hi Yang."

"Heya, Blake!" Yang grinned. "And Weiss, I'm glad you could make it!"

"Hi, you guys!" Ruby beamed. It was the first time she'd seen Weiss since after the tournament three days ago. Her friend hadn't come to any of her own classes or to any of Ruby's to watch her like she'd said she would.

But Ruby understood how difficult it must have been for Weiss to be able to convince her father to drive her to a class she wasn't even going to be taking.

At the sounds of the other two girls' voices, Weiss lifted her head a little wearily.

"Hello," she mumbled, quickly looking away. Her left arm was still in its cast, uselessly slung across her chest.

Yang's gaze flashed to Blake's curiously, and the Faunus girl explained in quiet words.

"She... doesn't think she deserves to be in the group photos."

"What?!" Ruby cried. "Of _course_ you do, Weiss! Don't be silly! You won two gold medals for Master Ozpin and our school! You're a part of our team! The picture wouldn't be complete without you! You've _gotta_ be in it, Weiss!"

"Plus," Yang added. "If you're here in the first place, that means your dad agrees with that and drove you all the way here so you _could_ be in the picture, right?"

Weiss glanced to each of them in turn before heaving a sigh.

"I guess..."

Ruby sat down on her other side and hugged her gently, and Yang reached out to ruffle Weiss' hair.

"Come on," Blake encouraged her. "I'll help you put on your uniform."

Ruby and Yang got themselves dressed as Blake helped Weiss. She removed the sling around Weiss' arm for a moment, leaving it only in its cast. She helped the girl remove the shirt she was currently wearing and slipped her uniform over her head and shoulders, its looseness an advantage in this kind of situation. With great care, Blake pulled the sleeve down over Weiss' broken arm, being sure not to move it any more than necessary.

But just as she was finishing up, she felt Weiss flinch.

"Sorry! Are you okay?"

"I'm fine..." Weiss said. "I can... manage my pants by myself."

With that declaration, she stood and grabbed her white pants before slipping into the bathroom and closing the door behind her.

The others finished tying their belts and getting changed during the meantime, and a few minutes later, Weiss reappeared. Her clothes were a little lopsided, but she was dressed, at the very least.

Blake helped tie her hair up into a ponytail for her, using a large white scrunchy to keep it secure. At the same time, Yang tied her belt for her, and Ruby was left to watch. She caught Weiss' gaze – her eyes were downcast and her lips never smiled. She was clearly embarrassed that she had to be babied like this and taken care of by others because of her arm.

When Blake and Yang had finished, they grabbed their medals from their bags and headed out the door to the dojang.

"Be there in a sec!" Ruby called after them. Yang met her eyes and nodded, knowing Ruby wanted to be alone with Weiss for a moment.

The door closed behind the blonde, leaving the two of them alone together. Ruby sat down on the bench again and ushered Weiss to do the same.

"Weiss..." she began. "I know this must be really hard for you... But you're hurt, so you've got to let other people help you. If you don't... you might make it _worse._.."

"I feel like an invalid," Weiss muttered bitterly. "And it's my own fault this even happened in the first place. It was because I wasn't paying attention, so she-"

"No!" Ruby cut her off abruptly. It surprised the girl, but she wasn't about to let Weiss start blaming herself for her own injury. "No, Weiss it's _not_ your fault..."

"What do you mean? Of course it was. Incompetence..."

Ruby bit her lip, chewing it for a moment. She checked the door to make sure no one else was coming in before she decided to spill the beans.

"Weiss, listen to me..." she said, lowering her voice. "I saw your match. I was watching really closely, and that other master – Cinder – she... she signaled for that Emerald girl to kick you. It _was_ deliberate like the judges said it was.

"She did a head-shot on _purpose_ and then followed up with a second illegal kick, but her master _told_ her to! You would've beaten her fair and square, but she couldn't stand the thought of losing, and that Cinder lady didn't want one of _her_ students to lose to one of _Ozpin's_. So that girl kicked you like that..."

Ruby cut off suddenly, her throat feeling tight. She swallowed, but there was a lump, and she let out a small sob. "It was... really scary to watch you get hit like that, Weiss. You crashed into the table and you couldn't breathe and you were in a lot of pain a-and there was blood..."

Weiss grew silent as she listened to Ruby this way, solemn and on the verge of tears as she recounted the awful memories. The concern and fear in her voice were more than convincing enough to let Weiss know every word out of the girl's mouth was nothing but the truth. Whatever Weiss had been about to say, she stopped herself and listened to Ruby.

"It was..." Ruby sniffled. "It was really scary to see you get hurt like that. And the medics had to come in and take you away on a stretcher. Our whole school was a wreck for an hour. The grandmasters called Master Ozpin up to get his trophy since all of us got at least one gold medal, but... none of us could even be excited about that. We were all just so worried for you, Weiss. So that's why..."

She was already crying by now, lifting her face up to bore waveringly into Weiss'.

"So that's wh-why... you gotta let us help you, Weiss. We don't want you to hurt anymore. S-So we're gonna help you get changed if you need it, or help you eat your food o-or type a message on your phone or tie up your hair or-"

"Okay," Weiss said, cutting her off gently. She couldn't bear to listen to Ruby go on like that anymore in such a distraught voice. "Okay, Ruby. I understand now. I'm sorry for making you feel so worried." She wrapped her good arm around the girl's shoulders, pulling her in close. She felt fingers slip around her waist and back and cling to her stomach.

"Don't cry, you dunce," Weiss sighed softly. "We're going to be taking pictures soon. Do you want to be all red-faced in them?"

Ruby shook her head and sniffed again.

"N-No..."

"Then stop crying. I understand how it must've felt for you now, Ruby. Thank you for telling me all of this."

She held Ruby for a moment longer, until the girl had stopped crying. Weiss chuckled and brushed her cheek against Ruby's hair. "Come on, now. Go wash your face in the sink and get your medals. Let's get out there."

Ruby nodded, pulling away and wiping her eyes. Weiss waited for her as she went into the bathroom to wash and dry off her face.

When she emerged, Ruby was back to her chipper, fourteen-year-old self again. She helped slip the sling back over Weiss' head and put her cast securely into place across her chest for her. She then grabbed her medals from her bag and Weiss did the same before the two of them opened the door and stepped out.

This was the first time since the tournament when all of the school's students had been gathered together, and now that Weiss had come out with Ruby at her side, her waiting friends seemed to relax a bit more.

Pyrrha jumped up and rushed over to her.

"Weiss! I'm so glad you'll be in our pictures as well! It wouldn't be the same without you! I'm glad your injuries weren't too serious."

The others came up to offer her similar words, proving Ruby's earlier point that Weiss really was a well-loved member of their school – their family.

The higher belts came up to her as well.

"I'm sorry you got hurt," Velvet said. "It'll hinder your classes for a while, but you've still got the lot of us to help you out! We can have private lessons for you before and after classes!" she offered with a smile.

"Right," Coco agreed. "Don't let them jerks from Master Cinder's school get to you. It won't do anyone any good. Those bastards always pull sneaky shit, but this year they went too damn far. I'll be sure to give 'em a piece of my mind next time we see 'em. Nobody hurts my underclassmen."

She cracked her knuckles and tossed her hair out of her face with a huff, and for a moment she was very intimidating. But then she grinned again and pat a hand to Weiss' back.

"But I'll save the revenge talk for later. Right now, we've got a celebration to throw!"

"Indeed we do."

All of the gathered students looked up at the sound of Ozpin's familiar voice. They all stood at attention and bowed to him in greeting.

The instructors entered the dojang and greeted their students as well before Ozpin had everyone sit in a large circle on the mats.

Ruby kept close to Weiss' uninjured side so she could lean on her a little bit. Yang was on her sister's other side and Blake was beside her, while Pyrrha flanked Weiss.

All of the students of the school were present now, all wearing their medals around their necks. Ozpin sat with his legs crossed in between Glynda and Peter, his golden trophy set in front of him.

Glynda then invited each student to stand up and say a few words about the tournament and their experiences in it.

The higher belts began first to get things going, standing one by one as they spoke individually. The red belts had received all golds and silvers, as had the purple belt boys.

Yang and Blake both spoke of their accomplishments as well as what they'd like to improve on for next year. Ruby spoke quickly and hyperactively when she was called upon.

"Th-This tournament was super fun! It was so cool to be able to see the other schools and their techniques and stuff! I really enjoyed it!" she piped, sitting down quickly as she finished.

When it was Weiss' turn, all expressions grew a bit more taut in remembrance of what had transpired. But she kept her chin high as she spoke.

"Although some misfortunes befell me at my first tournament, it truly was an exceptional experience, and I'm rather proud to have been able to participate and compete. I'm very grateful for this opportunity and intend to compete again next year."

The others all clapped as she finished speaking.

They continued around the circle, listening to Pyrrha's poised speech, Jaune's fumbling one, Nora's loud one, Ren's soft-spoken on, Sun's intense one, Neptune's charismatic one, and then the stocky, drawling speeches of Cardin and his four friends.

Once everyone was finished, Ozpin stood with his trophy in-hand and addressed all of them.

"This is the second year you've all won me this award," he said. "And the first year when I can walk away with something to show for it. I'm so proud of each and every one of you. You've all trained hard for years and deserve every medal you've earned for yourselves this past Saturday. Congratulations to all of you."

With the speeches finished, Glynda had everyone stand and arranged them into lines for a group photo. Their parents stood from their seats in the carpeted area of the school to take pictures and congratulate them all.

After that, Ozpin took the liberty upon himself to order pizza for all of the students and their parents as well.

For another hour or so, they all sat and chatted casually.

Weiss made sure the rest of them covered their laps in napkins as not to stain their uniforms. Ruby helped her friend fold her pizza slice in half so she could hold it with just one hand to eat.

They all talked and enjoyed themselves at their leisure until they'd all finished and went back to change one by one.

Once the four girls had dressed into their casual clothes once more, Ruby was sure to hug Weiss one more time before they went home for the day.

"If you can, you should come by to watch the classes," she said.

"Yeah, please!" Yang begged "I still need help with the mental knowledge stuff and you're my savior, Weiss!"

"Yeah, she's hopeless," Blake agreed with a smirk.

Weiss looked to each of them and finally smiled.

"Well, if you all insist. I'll be sure to come as often as I can."

And she did.

She convinced her father that it would be worth his time to drive her to the school, because she'd be helping her fellow students study their mental knowledge. In addition to helping others, she'd also observe the classes and pay attention to her own curriculum by observing what Pyrrha, Sun, and Neptune were taught.

In this way, Weiss was taken to the school twice a week on her regular class days in order to help the others as well as take notes for herself, despite the wobbly handwriting of her right hand.

She practiced by herself as best she could without having to move her left arm, simply so she could get used to the motions and stances.

However, in the end, Weiss' arm wasn't fully healed in time for the next belt test. Ozpin informed her that she'd be skipping a test, and although upset, Weiss simply accepted the news with a nod.

The others had heard the news too, and after the class when they walked away with their testing papers and Weiss was empty-handed, they looked guiltily at her. Yang was the first who attempted to speak about it.

"Weiss," she said. "I'm sorry-"

"Ah-puh-puh-puh-pup!" Weiss cut her off instantly. "I don't need your pity, thank you very much! Rather than pity, I need to help you study! There hasn't been a belt test yet where anyone but myself has answered all of the mental education questions correctly. I've got to save your behind first, Yang. I'll make you a study guide and give it to you next class."

The fact that Weiss still managed to remember all of her own mental education as well as all of the ones from her previous belts was impressive enough. But the fact that she already knew the mental knowledge of the _higher_ ranks as well as was incredible. She knew every answer for every question and reciting piece up to blue belt, and Yang was lucky to have her.

With water lavender eyes, she threw her arms gently around Weiss' shoulders.

"You're my savior, Weiss!" she cried.

"Yes, yes, I know."

. . .

In the following classes that led up to the next belt test, Weiss did as she'd promised and made a study guide for Yang, as she was the one who suffered most in the mental education portion of the tests.

Blake tended to make the most mistakes in kicking, and Yang was always certain to help her out in class, giving her tips about how to turn her hips or shoulders, and when it was best not to turn at all.

Blake's nervousness about being judged by Cardin or anyone else had long-since vanished by now; she had found a new confidence in herself through her friends. Her kicks were improving bit by bit, thanks to her companion's help and the instructions of her teachers.

It was strange how sometimes in order to perfect a kick to the best of her abilities, all she needed to do was get a new perspective on it. Blake could clearly see it when other people had faults in their kicks, but when she herself was performing them, she couldn't exactly catch a glimpse of her own motions in the mirrors.

Therefore, one day at class, Yang had gone up to Weiss where she was sitting at the counter at the side of the dojang and handed the girl her phone. She requested that Weiss record Blake's kicking practice for her.

With her good hand, Weiss complied, trying to keep the phone's camera steady to the best of her abilities. Once class had ended that day, Blake watched the video and saw for herself what her mistakes for particular kicks looked like.

"See here," Yang said as she watched the video over Blake's shoulder. "When you do your tornado kick, you kinda pause a bit riiiight before you do the actual kick. That slows you down and you lose power. You've gotta try not to pause like that, y'know what I mean?"

Blake observed herself with perked ears, noticing what Yang meant.

"Yeah..." she mumbled. "I think I get it now. Next time I'll try to do that."

Yang's idea to have Weiss record Blake ended up helping the Faunus girl a lot in the final week before she was to test. She almost perfected her tornado kick, and though it could still do with a bit of improvement, all of the major flaws had been dusted out.

The improvements showed when Blake's kick made louder sounds when connecting with the kicking targets, demonstrating her enhanced power brought upon by her newfound technique.

While Yang studied hard for her mental knowledge with Weiss' help, and Blake improved herself in her kicking with Yang's help, Ruby needed a bit of assistance as well.

She was still struggling with her form, which was form three, at her present level. So she went to Blake asking for help before and after classes, since the Faunus girl was one of their school's best when it came to forms. Blake helped Ruby with her balance and stance, directing her to slow down where she tended to rush through the motions.

"Forms aren't always about speed," she informed the brunette calmly. "Forms are more about power and strength. You don't just learn the motions because they look cool together. You've got to _understand_ your form."

Ruby had only tilted her head in confusion at that, but Blake elaborated.

One day after classes had finished, she stayed behind on the dojang with Ruby to show her a method that would help her better comprehend her form. Blake asked for Yang, Pyrrha, and Jaune's assistance and ushered them forward.

"Alright," she said to Ruby. "You're on form three now, so show me the first movements."

Ruby nodded and began her form, which started with a side-block and a punch to the left, followed by the same motions mirrored to the right side. Blake positioned herself and Yang on one side of the girl and Pyrrha and Jaune on the other.

"Okay, see..." she was saying. "When you do your side-block, you're blocking an imaginary opponent." Blake threw a punch at Ruby, but her side-block motion fended the Faunus girl off.

"See?" she said. "And then you follow up with a punch, either to the same person or to a brand new opponent." As Ruby stepped up for her punch, she aimed for Yang's stomach and pretended to strike her; Yang exaggeratedly stumbled backward and collapsed onto her back on the floor like a vanquished foe.

Blake rolled her eyes before continuing for Ruby. "And then you repeat the same motions on the other side, so imagine you're facing two brand new opponents."

As Ruby turned around, her mirrored side-block parried Pyrrha's punch this time, and her punch pretended to hit Jaune in the gut in the same manner she'd hit Yang.

"Good," Blake nodded. "And a side-block won't only block a punch, but what else?"

"Mm..." Ruby hummed in thought for a moment. "Oh! A roundhouse kick!"

"Exactly." Blake threw a light kick at her just to demonstrate, and Ruby blocked it easily. "Each block isn't just limited to protecting you from one specific thing. They all have multiple uses. In a form, rather than how to perform these motions, you've got to understand _why_ you're using them. Why _this_ specific motion and not something else? That's what you need to understand about a form. Did you notice that you never end a combination with a kick? Why do you think that is?"

"Um..." Ruby put a hand to her chin in thought. "Because you might be off-balance?"

"Well, that's part of it, yes," Blake nodded. "But mostly because kicks tend to be attacks. You never end a motion with just a kick because you've got to follow up with a follow-up motion, too. After you do a kick, there's always a punch or a block right afterward in your form. Show me the next part."

Ruby nodded and stepped toward the front of the room rather than the side this time. The first motion was a low-block, which Blake showed her fended off a low roundhouse kick. Following that was a front-snap kick, then two punches.

"This part," Blake explained. "You're kicking someone upside the chin, and then the punches are the follow-up attacks, punching them in the chest to knock them down for the count. Do you see what I mean?"

Ruby nodded slowly, her eyes starting to clear up with comprehension.

"Yeah... I think so!" she said. "So from now on when I do my form, I should imagine people coming at me and fighting me. That way, I can remember which combination to do and _why_ I have to do that combination, right? I have to do a side-block and a punch to defend and counterattack, and I have to do a kick and two punches to attack and follow-up."

"Exactly!" Blake's voice rose a little bit in her excitement as Ruby seemed to understand her lessons. She was so enthralled that her teaching had born fruit that she actually pulled Ruby into a hug. "That's it, Ruby. You'll do much better in your forms from now on if you understand _why_ you're doing them. It's all self-defense."

Ruby grinned and hugged Blake's back in return.

"I think I get it now! Thank you, Blake!"

Blake thanked Jaune and Pyrrha for their help and then helped Yang up off the floor. Then all of them went back to their respective changing rooms.

Weiss had observed everything that week – how she herself had helped Yang in the blonde's weakest spots, how Yang had helped Blake, and how Blake had helped Ruby. And Weiss was certain there was something Ruby would be able to help _her_ with once she returned to her classes.

* * *

The next belt test was held several days later.

It was the first time since joining taekwondo that Weiss was sitting on the sidelines beside her father and sister rather than testing for herself. But she wasn't ashamed of herself for receiving her injury, nor was she afraid of her father anymore.

It had been over a year since she had started the martial art now, and Weiss had made her father understand her passion for it through her own demonstrations and with the help of her friends and teachers.

She didn't see her missed testing as a setback; she viewed it merely as a break for herself, so she may perfect her techniques even more when she went back to classes; she'd make her following test even better than the present one would have been.

Presently, she sat beside Winter, who had also seemed to have taken more of an interest in watching the sport now rather than choose to ignore it.

The school had gotten a few new no-belts in the past few months, and they were now testing for the first time to achieve their white belts.

Weiss herself could still remember her first belt test – they all could still remember. Nothing compared to that nervousness of performing in front of the entire martial arts community – friends, family, teachers.

And absolutely _nothing_ compared to that feeling of getting your very first belt tied around your waist.

Each new belt after the first was another conquered level in this journey to go as far as they could possibly go.

Weiss may have needed to postpone her test today, but she'd be sure to blow everyone away when her time finally came. But for now, she simply watched the others.

Ruby, together with Nora, Ren, and Jaune, performed all of their orange belt curriculum together, from the hand techniques to the kicking combinations, to the form, the mental knowledge, and finally the breaking.

Weiss could see how much they had all improved since starting – even Jaune had made his wobbling punches a bit firmer.

And when she did her form, Ruby clearly had made leaps and bounds in improvements thanks to Blake's teachings. She was very smooth with the transition of her motions, as well as her stances.

And while Ren's balance, poise, and grace still made him the clear champion when it came to forms, Ruby had definitely moved up to second place in their group.

As for the mental knowledge portion, none of them had gotten to the point where they could each answer every question Ozpin asked, but they could each take a few of them, and with their combined teamwork managed to provide the correct answers for everything.

Nora's breaking was still the most impressive – and the loudest – her voice ringing out in an enthusiastic yell as she jumped up and broke her board, sending pieces flying as high as the ceiling.

Once the breaking was over and the students were permitted to give their boards to their parents, Ruby rushed to where her father and mother were sitting at the side of the dojang and hugged them. She left one piece of her broken board with them before rushing over to the counter where Weiss was seated. Ruby skidded to a halt in front of her friend, who looked up at her with surprised blue eyes.

"Ruby? What are you doing?"

"For you!" Ruby said, giving Weiss the other half of her board. "Cause you've been helping me out since day one, and you can't have your own board to take home with you today, so I figured... you can have half of mine!" she beamed.

Still shocked, Weiss reached out her right hand and accepted the board before putting it in her lap.

"You dunce," she muttered. "You didn't have to do this. These boards are supposed to be for your family."

"But you _are_ my family, Weiss!" she declared. "Or, at least it feels that way! You're my best friend, so I want you to have it!"

As soon as Weiss had accepted her board, Ruby leaned forward across the counter and hugged her softly. "Thanks for everything, Weiss!"

Weiss was too touched at the moment to form a verbal reply, but she responded by squeezing her good arm a little tighter around Ruby's shoulders before letting her go.

Once their test had concluded, the present green belts were called up next. Weiss sat back, slightly dejected that she'd be watching her classmates move up without her, but she did her best to cheer them on.

Pyrrha was still clearly the best when it came to the hand techniques and form, though Neptune matched her with the kicking combinations. Sun was the one with the most impressive breaking, however.

This time, it was a flying side-kick – a run across the room followed by a jump and a side-kick done mid-air. Sun's aim was a bit off, but his power and speed were more than enough to break the board into three pieces.

The others broke as well, both succeeding on their first tries, though without as much flare as the Faunus boy. After the mental knowledge portion of the test had concluded, they were directed to sit down beside the other students who had completed their tests.

Yang, Blake, Cardin and the other boys were up next. Weiss was most interested about watching Blake's kicking, and she noticed the Faunus girl had really improved even since the previous week. She was kicking higher and with more power, but most importantly of all, her technique was almost as good as Yang's.

Not quite, but _leagues_ better than any of the boys'.

The moment of truth, however, was when they all knelt down for the mental knowledge portion of the test. Ozpin sat at his table and asked them to recite their belt meaning.

Yang's voice rang out loud and clearly, and she didn't stumble on any of the words like the boys did. When it came time for them to answer the specific questions pertaining to their belt level as well as reciting small creeds, Yang was able to answer everything flawlessly.

For the first time since she'd started, she got a perfect score on her mental knowledge portion, and it was all the blonde could do to restrain herself from shouting out in excitement.

They moved onto their breaking, which was a tornado kick to the board, and Blake broke hers on the first try. As the crowds cheered, she mumbled her thanks to Yang.

"It's because you helped me out so much."

"Nah~" The blonde waved her hand dismissively. "It's 'cause you trained so hard, Blake!"

The blue belts handed their boards to their parents and sat down.

The purple and red belts completed their tests, showing off higher level forms and kicks like spinning-hook kicks and jumping back-kicks respectively before the test concluded.

Glynda called up all of the students who had tested and lined them up by rank to receive their new belts. Ozpin and the instructors went around untying old belts and tying on new ones, awarding medals and trophies to all of them.

When they'd finished, Blake and Yang adorned purple belts, and Ruby was at green. Pyrrha, Sun, and Neptune would be the only blue belts now, as Weiss would be re-joining as a green belt in a few weeks.

It was strange to think how she'd have to be moved down a rank, or rather simply be unable to advance with the people who had been her classmates for an entire year.

Now, Weiss would be... in the same class as Ruby.

It was a little upsetting to think that she'd missed a test, and yet she didn't regret it all that much.

This way, she could be right beside Ruby in every lesson from now on, keeping an eye on her and training together with her even closer than she had been before.

And Pyrrha and the boys were only one rank ahead of her now; Weiss would still be in the same classes as them, if not the same specific group. Weiss could live with that.

Presently, Glynda had all of the students who had tested turn around to show off their new belts and trophies, and all of their parents and family members stood in preparation to take pictures.

But when Pyrrha turned around, there was no one to pull to her side. Sun and Neptune shared dejected looks with her and the three sighed collectively.

Their sadness didn't go unnoticed by the others, and even the new brown belts seemed a bit bummed out. Before the cameras started clicking, Coco spoke up loudly.

"Hold on just a second," she sighed. "Something's not right here."

The nods all around her were unanimous. Ruby felt a pat on her back and turned to find Yang and Blake smiling down at her.

"Go get her," the blonde grinned. "Only you can do it, Ruby!"

The new green belt girl flashed quick glances around at her friends, and they were all nodding in agreement.

Keeping hold of the medal around her neck, Ruby dashed off to the edge of the dojang, bowed, and rushed onto the carpeted area behind the counter, weaving through the crowds until-

"Weiss!"

At the sound of her name, the white-haired girl looked up in shock.

"Ruby? What are you doing? They're about to take the group pictures!"

"I know, I know!" she said breathlessly. "But it's not the same without _you_ , Weiss! You've gotta be in the pictures too! You've gotta be with us or else we can't smile!"

Weiss' heart clenched a bit, and her vision went blurry all of a sudden, but she fought back the tears.

"I can't," she mumbled. "I didn't even test-"

"That doesn't matter!" Ruby grasped her friend's right hand and slipped an arm around her shoulders, guiding Weiss to her feet. "Weiss, you're a part of our family! You can't be here sitting and watching; you gotta be up there with us!"

Ruby tugged her forward, and Weiss stepped out of her shoes and left them behind as she was taken toward the dojang. The parents moved aside to let them through, and Ruby was mindful not to jostle Weiss or let her broken arm get touched.

The others all cheered when they saw the pair emerge together, and Ruby led Weiss over to them.

She wasn't dressed in her uniform like the rest of them were, nor had she received her new belt today, but Weiss found she didn't care.

Ruby's words and the others' smiles were more than enough proof that she was more than welcomed here.

Ruby slipped into place beside Weiss, and Pyrrha pulled her friend in to her side.

"It didn't feel right without you here!" she beamed.

Weiss cracked a smile and fit herself into place between the two girls.

With everyone in place, the parents began to take pictures and congratulate their children before the group dispersed. Ruby asked her parents to take pictures of just Weiss and herself, and then with Blake and Yang, too.

The other students all gathered around Weiss to sign her cast and draw little pictures on it. Ruby scribbled her name, a heart, and a rose while Yang attempted to draw a dragon around her signature.

Once they'd all finished, Ruby, Blake, and Yang headed back into the changing rooms.

Weiss exited the dojang and put her shoes back on, going to her father's side when Ozpin suddenly called her name. He walked up to them from the opposite side of the counter and addressed both Weiss and her father.

"Now Weiss, I know you're a very bright student," he began. "If I'm not mistaken, you should be able to have your cast off in three weeks, is that correct?" he asked, looking to her father.

He nodded.

Ozpin went on. "If that's the case, then I don't see why you can't attend a make-up testing once you come back to classes. You can still test for your blue belt and re-join your original group, if you'd like. I know you'll be able to catch up and learn all of the new curriculum quickly."

Surprised at the offer, Weiss looked up at her father. He met her gaze and spoke sternly.

"It's your decision."

Weiss looked down for a moment and thought, weighing her options and considering outcomes for both. After a minute, she looked up with determined eyes at her master.

"Thank you, Master Ozpin," she said. "I'd like to take you up on that offer... but I won't. I'll kindly refuse. I didn't go through as much training as the other blue belts have, and it wouldn't be fair of me to be bumped up to their level without similar training. I want to earn my belt, even if it means redoing the rank before it."

Ozpin smiled a bit, intrigued.

"Are you certain?" he asked. "You injury wasn't your fault, you do realize. You're not being held back by any surmountable choice of your own."

"I know," she said respectfully. "But this is my decision. I'll continue to train as a green belt and test fairly when the time comes."

Ozpin nodded.

"Very well. I'm hoping for your swift recovery so I may see you back in class before long."

Weiss dipped her head.

"Thank you, sir."

She met her father's gaze, and he didn't oppose her choice, so Weiss knew he must have accepted it.

Once Ruby and the others had emerged from the changing rooms, dressed once more in their casual clothes, they all spoke of the usual plans to head back to Ruby and Yang's house to celebrate. Blake's parents were more than used to driving her there for the little after-party, and by now even Weiss' father didn't resent to drive his daughter there.

Just as they always did, the four girls enjoyed themselves for the afternoon, eating Summer's homemade cookies, playing with Zwei, and watching movies.

They all sat on the couch, Ruby on Weiss' right side so she could cuddle into her. Blake was on her other side, leaning into Yang.

Every time, the celebration felt new, and yet somehow so familiar.

But unmistakably, every time they all felt accomplished, accepted, and undeniably happy.

* * *

Three weeks later, Weiss got her cast removed, though she kept it solely to savor the messages her friends had written on it for her.

The first day she returned to the taekwondo school without it on, Ruby jumped up from where she'd been stretching and rushed over to her friend.

"Weiss! You're all better!" she cried, throwing her arms around her. Weiss had been about to return the contact when the younger girl suddenly gasped and pulled away. "Ohmygosh I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to be so rough! Are you okay?" she asked anxiously, rubbing Weiss' shoulder gently.

The white-haired girl nodded with a smile.

"I'm fine, Ruby," she reassured her. "The pain's long gone. But I wasn't finished with my hug yet."

She pulled Ruby in tighter, relishing the feeling of being able to hold her with both arms once again.

Pyrrha, Blake, and Yang rushed over as well for hugs, while the boys mentioned how glad they were to have Weiss back.

Ruby led her friend back to the changing rooms, but Weiss didn't need any help putting on her uniform anymore. She was still a bit stiff with tying her belt, though, so Ruby did that for her. When the brunette finally straightened up again, she and Weiss adorned the same colored belts.

It was certainly odd, to say the least. For an entire year, Ruby had been the rank beneath Weiss, but now they were on equal levels.

It was even stranger for Weiss – she was in an entirely different group of students now, no longer directly with Pyrrha and the boys, but now she was with Jaune, Ren, and Nora instead.

They'd all shared many classes together in the past; it was just the knowledge that they were now on her level that was a bit off-putting for Weiss.

Even so, she didn't regret the time she had lost. Her taking a break had been a sort of training on its own, as it challenged her to keep up with her curriculum without actually performing it herself.

During that time, she'd assisted her friends and helped them learn more than she had taught herself. It had helped her grow in more ways than she would have if she'd _kept_ taking the classes.

Once Ruby was finished with Weiss' belt, she couldn't stop herself from hugging the girl once more. "I'm so glad you're back! I've missed you!"

Weiss rolled her eyes, but there was no one else here to see, so she patted Ruby's head lightly.

"You dunce. I've been here every day you have."

"Well yeah, but I mean _taking_ class with me! It was lonely... But now we're _actually_ classmates cause we're on the same level!" She pulled away, and suddenly her smile switched for a frown. "Is this... really okay with you, Weiss? I mean, don't you think you could do a make-up test and move up to blue belt anyway? You'd be able to catch up, no problem."

Weiss sighed, reaching out to lightly flick the girl's forehead.

"Of course I'd be able to catch up," she huffed. "Skipping up to my proper level would be a cinch for me," she said proudly.

Weiss watched as Ruby's shoulders began to slump, her silver eyes slowly directing themselves at the ground. But Weiss poked a finger under Ruby's chin and had her look up again.

"But there's no way I would do that. It would be like cheating. I'll earn my blue belt after I've officially completed my training as a green belt. And as things turn out, it just so happens that that'll now be at the same time as you."

As she spoke, the sparkle gradually returned to Ruby's eyes, and her lips started to curl up again. "Now then," Weiss continued. "I've watched enough of the lessons, but watching and doing are two entirely different things. I'll need you to refresh me on our form."

"Right!"

Ruby gabbed away as they walked out into the dojang, joining the others.

Jaune had been sitting on the floor and peacefully stretching alone when Nora rushed over to throw her weight onto his back to "help", and Ren stretched quietly off to one side. Weiss gazed around at her new classmates.

"This will be... interesting..."

"Yup!" Ruby agreed. "But it'll also be even more _fun_ with you here now!"

At the time when Weiss had been forced to stop classes, she had already learned all of her green belt form, and presently, Ruby had only been taught the first half.

Before class began, Ruby did her best to go over the motions in order to help refresh Weiss' memory. She showed her their hand techniques and kicking combination as well.

By that time, Glynda and Port entered the dojang and began class.

Ruby kept a close eye on Weiss as they jogged and did their warm-ups, making sure she was always Weiss' partner whenever they needed to be in pairs to stretch or for an exercise. She felt she knew Weiss better than anyone else here, and Ruby was always careful to avoid her left arm in any way possible.

Weiss noticed as much, and during one of their punching exercises, she leaned forward breathlessly to her younger partner.

"You do realize... that the reason the cast is gone now... is because my arm's healed, don't you?"

"I know..." Ruby mumbled. "I just wanna be sure!"

Had it been almost anyone else, Weiss might've been irked by the excessive concern – insulted, as though they were babying her. But when it was Ruby, Weiss knew the concern was nothing but genuine and endearing.

It always made Weiss smile a bit.

When the curriculum portion of the class began, Weiss quickly got back into the motions of her hand techniques, and though she hadn't kicked in about a month, the steps and turns of the kicking combination came naturally back to her.

The self-defense techniques were something she hadn't been taught yet, however, so in doing them now, she was extra attentive.

The second Glynda had instructed them to get into pairs, Ruby had rushed to Weiss' side faster than ever before. The older girl wasn't surprised, because from what she'd seen, their self-defense involved a lot of shoulder-grabbing and takedowns.

The green belts' self-defense was a grab to the shoulder from behind, and since both Ruby and Weiss were left-handed, they needed to be grabbed on their left shoulders.

Ruby was excessively careful about attacking Weiss, and did her best only to grab the girl's uniform and not make contact with her actual shoulder.

And when Weiss was the attacker and Ruby needed to take her down to the floor, she was very mindful to go slowly and to cushion her fall as best as possible.

The whole ordeal was more stressful for Ruby than it was for Weiss, and by the end of it all, the brunette was mumbling frets.

"Is your arm okay, Weiss? I didn't hurt you, did I?"

"Of course not," she said. "As I've told you time and again, I'm completely fine now. Don't worry so much."

She felt the familiarity of all this, how hers and Ruby's roles had been reversed since the time when they'd first met.

By the time class was over, Weiss was pleasantly sore and a bit breathless – she'd forgotten what it felt like to have just finished a good workout. She longed to get her body back into shape before another week was up.

Ruby offered her a bottle of cool water, as Weiss had forgotten to bring her own, so she accepted Ruby's gratefully.

Once she'd finished drinking, Ruby took a sip right away. Weiss blushed instantly and turned around to quickly start changing.

Once they'd both finished changing and gone out to meet their parents, it was time to part ways. Ruby pulled Weiss into one more hug.

"I'll see you next time in class!"

This time, Weiss didn't care if there were other people around to see as she returned the embrace warmly.

"Yes. Thank you, Ruby," she murmured into the girl's hair. "For... everything. For always believing in me when I couldn't do it for myself. For taking such good care of me. And for being my friend through it all."

It wasn't detectable by any other pair of potentially-straying eyes, but Weiss pressed a light kiss to Ruby's temple. The younger girl felt it and froze for a split second before her embrace on Weiss tightened even more out of sheer joy.

When they parted, their eyes met, and there were questions and statements that didn't have the time to be spoken right now, so they came to the silent agreement to save them for another time.

They had many more times to come, after all.

* * *

It was two weeks later when Weiss showed up for sparring class, for the first time in almost two months now.

The higher belts, including the brown belts, Yang and Blake were also choosing to spar that day, and Ruby was as well. But the second she saw that Weiss had shown up with her bag full of gear, she sprinted over to her friend.

"Weiss! You're gonna spar today? Are you sure? I mean are you-"

"First of all," Weiss said, poking her forehead. "I've told you at _least_ a million times already that I'm fine now. And secondly, if I don't get back into the routine of sparring now, I'll _never_ get back in. It's a requirement for future belts, so it's best not to get lazy and fall behind."

With that, she brushed past the girl, though Ruby was quick to follow her into the back to help her change and put on her gear. Blake and Yang were in the changing room, just finishing up tying one another's chest pieces when the younger pair walked in.

"Heya!" Yang grinned. "You gonna start sparrin' again today, Weiss?"

"What does it look like?" Weiss said dryly, dropping her sparring bag onto the floor. Yang chuckled at the biting sarcasm that had become so familiar to her in recent months.

"Even if she doesn't spar a match," Blake said. "It's better to at least get back into the routine of the bounces and steps."

"Thank goodness _one_ of you understands," Weiss mumbled.

Weiss and Ruby went to their respective bags and began slipping on their arm and leg gear. Ruby was sure to tie Weiss' chest-piece for her to make sure it wasn't too tight, and Blake tied Ruby's for her in the meantime.

Yang and Blake finished by tying their hair into the usual ponytails, and then the four of them were off for class.

If Ruby got help from Blake with forms, and Blake got help from Yang with kicking, and Yang got help from Weiss with mental knowledge, then Ruby found the person she worked best with was Weiss in regards to sparring.

It had never been her strongest point, even before the incident, but after her match with Emerald, Weiss had been a lot more hesitant about getting back into sparring.

So on her first class back, Ruby was certain – as always – to be her partner, and during the training drills would do her best to instruct Weiss on certain things.

"Make sure to keep bouncing on your feet as much as possible," she said. "If you're constantly moving, then you're three times quicker than you would be if you were just standing still like a sitting duck."

She demonstrated for herself just how swiftly she could move before going on. "I know sparring's a bit tough for you, and I think I know why. Because it doesn't require too much thinking. You're super good at mental knowledge because you have to think about and understand the answers and _live_ by them every single day.

"But for sparring, it's more, um... in-the-moment! Sometimes, you don't have the _time_ to think – you just gotta act! So I think what's best for you is looking at sparring kinda like a chess game! You need strategy, just minus the hours and hours of boring thinking time."

The analogy might not have been the best, but it'd been the only one that had come to Ruby's mind at the time.

And Weiss more or less had gotten the gist of her explanation anyway.

In a mock sparring match against Ruby, Weiss found she was like Sun – she didn't go easy on Weiss. And Weiss appreciated that more than anything.

Sparring was Ruby's best field, and though she controlled the amount of force behind every kick, she didn't let up on her incredible speed.

Within just a one-minute round, she had scored about ten points on Weiss, leaving the white-haired girl with only two or three. But still, it was more than she'd expected to score against the best non-black-belt sparrer in the school.

Ruby's little tips to her here and there had certainly helped out, that was for sure.

At the end of the tiring class, they all helped one another out of their gear, shedding the excess layers and remembering how it felt to breathe freely again.

The girls lined up in the bathroom to get a turn at the sink to wash their faces of grime and sweat, just to hold them over long enough to make it home and shower.

But even when Weiss felt so sticky and slimy like that, it never deterred Ruby from hugging her.

Weiss hadn't realized a specific time or date, but somewhere along the lines, she'd grown accustomed to Ruby's frequent hugs. And perhaps, she'd even come to enjoy them.

And just maybe she'd come to long for them as well.

Yang and Blake noticed the budding affections between the two girls as well. They themselves had already been stealing kisses in the changing room for several months now, and were even bold enough to do so in Yang's own home whenever they had a room to themselves.

At this rate, it would only be a matter of time.

Patience was something the martial art emphasized in every belt's mental knowledge.

And it was guaranteed to be a virtue.

* * *

 **A/N: Yes, yes, though the main focus of this fic is not romance, there is some thrown in there :3**

 **The title "The Strength Of Autumn" is part of my school's brown belt meaning. Autumn is the last season in the belt ranks, since they go from Spring-Summer-Autumn. Winter isn't included, but it's implied to be the "black belt" season, the "end" season since it's at the end of the year. But Winter is also the season at the beginning of the new year, which shoes black belt isn't the end of the art at all. Far from it.**

 **If you like my work, you can support me on as Kiria Alice!**

 **Please review!**


	5. A New Journey

**Here is the final chapter! This will explore all the girls' advances in taekwondo and in their relationships as well. You'll also see a bit of black belt things as inspired by my own school.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own RWBY.**

* * *

Chapter 5. A New Journey

The wait hadn't actually been as long as they'd expected it to be.

It was only three months later when the next belt test came around.

Blake and Yang had been growing closer and closer with increased frequency since the first kiss, and now it was getting difficult to keep the relationship hidden. But they did their best for Weiss' and Ruby's sake, as not to pressure them into discovering their own feelings or to make them uncomfortable.

However, their parents had suspected a romance between the two oldest girls for some time now, and none were shocked about it.

What _was_ a bit shocking, on the other hand, was the end of the next belt testing.

Once all of the students had finished their curriculum performances and all of them had been lined up and awarded their new belts, Ruby had been unable to contain her excitement.

Achieving her new belt directly alongside Weiss after three months of training together every other day? After all the secret hugs and hidden kisses they'd come to start sharing, Ruby had squealed aloud and thrown her arms around Weiss to blatantly kiss her in front of the entire taekwondo school and the audience.

Before that, there had been kisses on cheeks and temples and the backs of hands, but never on the lips.

It was certainly an unforgettable first kiss, especially considering it was caught on camera by Ruby's mother. Their first kiss was immortalized by that photo and the memory of everyone who had attended the testing that day.

But despite the fact that Ruby had caught her entirely off-guard with it all, and despite the fact that Weiss had been so flustered she'd almost fainted, she had somehow managed to kiss the girl back for a brief second before scrambling away from her.

It had been an added bout of excitement tacked onto the end of the test, and congratulatory shouts had gone up from their fellow classmates.

Weiss' initial scare about her father's reaction was all for naught as well, considering he'd actually smiled at the display.

Theirs hadn't been the first relationship to blossom at Ozpin's school, and it wasn't about to be the last.

Romantic relationships had formed between Coco and Velvet even before Yang and Blake had secretly started 'dating'. But after Ruby and Weiss were official, the blonde girl and the Faunus finally revealed their affections as well.

It would be a while yet before Jaune and Pyrrha got moving along, although Ren and Nora seemed quite comfortable where they were with one another, as did Sun and Neptune.

At that point, it had been almost or over two years since they had all begun their lessons at Ozpin's school, and they had all grown quite a bit along the way.

Week after week, they continued training, working hard in the fields they suffered most, and helping others who struggled where they themselves excelled.

Their second tournament passed them by.

Weiss didn't luck out in her sparring enough to be able to get the same opponent as last time, but Yang did.

After a full year of vigorously working to improve her kicks and enhance her sparring skills, she bested Neo in the end with the difference of a single point.

Ruby worked her way up to a silver in form and maintained her gold in breaking.

Now that she was of-rank to spar, she was one of the smallest contestants in the tournament for her age group, but she won every single round. Ruby was undefeated and received a gold medal without argument.

Weiss improved to receive all golds, other than a sliver in sparring, and Blake maintained her spot as the best female competitor her age in forms, though she too improved her breaking to a silver.

For the third year in a row and for the second without having it stolen by Cinder, Ozpin's students won him a trophy.

Birthdays passed, belt testings passed, tournaments passed, graduations passed.

But even after the girls moved onto new public schools, they made sure to stay close to their beloved taekwondo school so they may continue their lessons together.

Blake, Yang, and Weiss got their licenses, and soon they were able to drive themselves as well as Ruby taekwondo.

They visited one another whenever they pleased, went on double-dates on the weekends, had sleepovers whenever their families allowed it. The four of them grew closer by the day, and they weren't afraid to show it, not even in front of their parents.

Weiss' father had become good friends with Blake's mother and father as well as Summer and TaiYang, and though Winter wasn't always present, whenever she was, she got along well with the other girls.

The four of them became even more inseparable than they had been previously. Their newfound romances had only served to strengthen their bonds.

When they had free time, they would go to the movies or to dinner together, go for walks, or practice their martial arts.

Soon, the seasons started repeating themselves as years went by...

. . .

. .

. . .

It was when Ruby was seventeen when she witnessed her first ever black belt test.

Scarlet and Sage ended up testing beside Coco, Velvet, Fox, and Yatsuhashi, and all of the other students of the school were encouraged to come and obverse their test, so they may know what to be expecting.

Some students – like Cardin and his friends – had moved on from taekwondo, having quit for one reason or another, and new students had started classes and begun their journey.

When the higher belts were preparing for their black belt test, their underclassmen were sure to pay attention and take mental notes so they would be prepared when the time came for their own test.

That was the recent goal on all of their minds, after all – achieving their black belts.

Only a small percentage of martial artists earned their black belts, and even fewer continued on after that.

But Ruby didn't want to stop, not even after she'd gotten her black belt. She wanted to keep going for as long as possible, for as many years as she could. She wanted to keep growing and expanding her knowledge and skills as a martial artist together with her girlfriend, her sister, and her friends.

They were all there for the first black belt test, just to observe and support their upperclassmen.

The test at Ozpin's school was nothing to be taken lightly. It was a hardcore test that included all of the traditional aspects.

It started with a ten-day fast, where candidates could eat nothing but vegetables and selected fruits, and drink nothing but water.

During those same ten days, candidates had to carry around a raw egg with them wherever they went – if Ozpin checked the egg the day of the test to find it had been damaged in any way, that person wouldn't be permitted to test.

There was also the essay-writing portion of having to answer ten questions and fill at least half a page with each response.

If all of these things were passed, then the test could begin with the candidates running one-hundred nonstop laps around the dojang.

Ruby and the others learned the expected routine by watching the others' black belt testing.

After the running, there was a sparring portion of the test, where every single candidate had to spar every other one for a full one-minute round.

And then came the curriculum.

Under Ozpin's instructions, all candidates then had to go through all of the hand techniques, kicking combinations, forms, self-defense techniques, and recite the mental knowledge for all thirteen of the preceding belts.

All it all, it was roughly a four to five hour test, with a traditional flower ceremony in the beginning, a tea ceremony at the end, followed by the candidates giving small speeches about their experiences.

And at last, they were permitted to go home and break their fast.

Ruby and the others had watched in awe as Coco and her friends had completed each and every part of the test on the designated day. Watching Ozpin and Glynda tie the official black belts onto their waists – the black belts that had their individual names embroidered into them – was incredible enough.

There wouldn't be another black belt test for another half a year, but Ruby was determined to be a candidate in it when the time did come.

From then on, the six black belts started taking a brand new class Ozpin had put on the schedule, as they were no longer in the color belt stages like the others were.

Ruby was a junior black belt at the time with Weiss, and Yang and Blake were green-stripes.

Sun and Neptune would have been yellow-stripes along with Pyrrha, but the boys had taken a break from taekwondo somewhere along the lines, and when they had rejoined had been a bit behind. At present they were brown belts, a rank beneath Ruby, and they would have to wait at least another year before they were able to test for black belt.

But it was only several months later when Glynda called out her name along with all of her other classmates to inform them they would be testing for their black belts at the end of this year.

They were ecstatic to say the very least.

Black belt was one of the highest achievements in any martial art; only a small percentage of people who started would ever make it that far. Ruby had first started classes at the age of thirteen, but since then had grown and trained alongside her friends and sister for almost five more years. She was eighteen now, Weiss nineteen and Blake and Yang at twenty.

And they were all about to go through one of the biggest challenges of their entire lives.

At the end of the class when Ruby received her testing paper, she bowed deeply and humbly to Glynda as she accepted it-

-and then immediately jumped on her girlfriend the second she turned around.

"Weiss!" she cried. "I did it! I'm gonna get my black belt!"

"Not so fast," Weiss chided her, patting her back firmly. By now she'd grown more than used to Ruby's enthusiastic and sudden hugs. "You've only just gotten your testing packet. There's a lot more to prepare for with this test than there was for the others."

"I know, I know, but still!" Ruby nuzzled into her neck. "Just the fact that I even _made_ it this far is so incredible! And you're here with me! And so are Blake and Yang and Pyrrha and Jaune and Ren and Nora! We're all gonna be in the same group testing together! After five years, we're finally..." She trailed off with a dreamy sigh.

Weiss understood her excitement, and perhaps even shared it, although refused to show it in such a way. Instead, she merely looked around to the eyes of her fellow candidates, all of their gazes proud and eager to begin this next stage.

As the class dispersed and broke up into excited conversations, Yang and Blake sauntered over to where Ruby was still clinging to Weiss like a koala.

"All I know," Yang said. "Is that Blake's gonna look _badass_ in black."

"Maybe," the Faunus girl mused. "But imagine Weiss. The black uniform and belt will look really neat on her, I think."

"Aw, c'mon," Yang whined. "I'm tryin' to compliment how pretty you'll look and you're complimenting someone else."

"If that's your idea of romantic, then I'll have to ask you to try harder," Blake chuckled.

By that point, Ruby had released Weiss and turned back to them excitedly.

"We're _all_ gonna look awesome!" she declared. "We're gonna get those cool black uniforms like Velvet has and we're gonna join the black belt class together with them! It's gonna be so much fun!"

"Hold on there, lil' sis," Yang stopped her. "I hope you haven't forgotten about the actual test itself. That might not be so fun."

Ruby's shoulders immediately slumped.

"Oh... right. The fast..."

All three of them nodded.

"That's right," Weiss said. "No cookies or sweets for ten whole-"

"Okay, okay!" Ruby whined. "You don't have to remind me! I don't wanna think about it yet! We've still got two months before we have to start that."

"Right," Weiss concurred. "And in the meantime, I suggest you all get started on answering your essay questions." She flipped a few pages of her testing packet and pointed out the list of questions all candidates needed to respond to. "Best to get all of these out of the way first so we can focus on the fast and egg carrying later."

"Aw, c'mon, Weiss~" Yang laughed. "We've still got two whole months before we have to test. That's plenty of time! Just do one question a week and we'll be fine."

Blake and Weiss shared an incredulously hopeless look and then both sighed.

"You deal with her," Weiss instructed the Faunus girl. "I'll take care of mine."

"Right."

As it would turn out, Weiss ended up bragging that she'd finished typing full-page responses to each of the ten essay questions by the end of that week.

"WHAT?!" Ruby blurted. "Weiss, you've betrayed me! I thought we'd work on them together!"

"You were too slow, so I had to leave you behind," Weiss shrugged. "But I suppose I can still help you from my position."

They gathered together at Ruby and Yang's house for a sleepover weekend, where the main focus would be to work on answering their essay questions. Summer was sure to bake them cookies, as it would be one of the last times they'd be able to taste them before they started their fast.

Blake brought her laptop up into the sisters' room as Ruby and Yang sat on their respective bunks with their own computers, struggling over the first few questions as Weiss coached them from the floor.

Blake had already finished writing two of her essays, and so she sat quietly off to one corner of the room and worked on the third. Of course, that wasn't to say she didn't find enjoyment in watching the other three.

"Waaah!" Ruby was wailing. "I don't get this question! 'What is your responsibility to Master Ozpin's school after you have achieved your black belt?' I don't know! To, um... keep coming to classes?"

"That is part of it," Weiss agreed. "But there's more to it than that, Ruby. Think."

"Uuuu..."

Surprisingly enough, it was Yang who came up with a response.

"Well, even after we earn our black belts, we're still Ozpin's students no matter where we go or what we do. If we decide to quit taekwondo afterward-" She ignored an appalled gasp from Ruby and continued. "Then we've still got to live by the things martial arts have taught us. Even if we quit after getting black belt, we'll still _be_ black belts. Just because we stop practicing – _if_ we ever do – doesn't mean we can just forget about these past six years of learning."

Weiss nodded approvingly all the while as she spoke.

"That's very good, Yang. I see your college classes have helped you out a bit to expand your thinking skills."

"Yup!" she grinned. "Had a whole course on that kinda thing and got a B-!"

"Impressive..." Weiss rolled her eyes. "Now get to typing before you forget everything."

"Aye!"

Both sisters started typing away, each one putting their answers into their own words and adding a few other little tidbits to it. In the meantime, Weiss went to sit beside Blake.

"How are you fairing? I don't suppose you need any help, but I figured I might as well ask anyway."

"I'm fine, thanks," she smiled. "I guess I really shouldn't be surprised that you finished all of your essays within the first week. But I still _am_ kind of shocked."

"The mental knowledge is what I'm best at," Weiss reminded her. "If I don't at _least_ excel and stand out with this, then there will be nothing left for me."

"Well, these are only the essays," Blake reminded her. "We've still got to study all of the color belt meanings and the answers to their questions."

"I've already done that," Weiss stated. "But I wouldn't at all be opposed to helping the rest of you."

By the time Ruby's parents called them down for supper, Blake had finished five of her short essays and Yang had finished four.

Ruby had explained to Weiss that she'd only started her fourth one, but when she came back to it tomorrow, she'd be able to remember what she'd been thinking and finish it quickly. That was what convinced Weiss to allow Ruby to finish up for the day.

After supper, they all changed into their sleepwear, and Weiss made sure they all re-saved their essays before closing their laptops.

Ruby offered her hand to Weiss and helped her climb up into the top bunk with her as Blake slipped into the bottom bed with Yang.

The blonde turned off the bedside lamp and shrouded the room in darkness before pulling her girlfriend close. She could already hear the Faunus girl's purr rumbling softly in her chest, and when Yang brought her close, she could feel the vibrations for herself. She kept her voice low as she spoke.

"I can't believe it..." she sighed. "It's been almost _six years_ since we first started. Where did the time go? Ruby's gonna be going to college soon..."

"I know," Blake murmured. "But she'll still be living at home like you are, so don't worry. I'm just amazed to see all the people we've trained with come this far with us. Although some - who shall remain nameless - ended up quitting."

"Ugh, I'm so glad we don't have to test with those jerks." Remembering the harassment they'd once tormented Blake with, Yang's hands presently went to her girlfriend's ears to rub them gently. The purr grew instantaneously louder.

"Just a few more months..." she breathed, curling into Yang's shoulder. "It's going to be a lot of fun."

"Yeah," Yang agreed. "Yeah, it sure is!"

Silence and gentle breathing from above them told them the other pair had already fallen asleep, and so Blake and Yang settled down and quickly followed.

* * *

As the weeks passed by, the eight candidates were required to take an extra class per week in order to go over all of their testing requirements as many times as possible.

They were also required to take three of the four sparring classes per month.

It was clear that Ruby was still the undisputed champion sparrer of the entire school, and the rest of her friends chuckled nervously at the thought of having to spar her on their testing day.

But Weiss still remembered all the advice her girlfriend had given her over the years, and the white-haired girl always strived to follow said advice every time she put on her gear.

Ruby helped the others as well, always offering tips like "Try dodging to the side instead of backward" or "get in closer so they can't kick you" or "try faking and then using combinations!"

It was a bit more difficult for the rest of them, but they did their best to enhance their skills under her command.

In the usual classes, Blake would give advice to the other students about how to perfect their forms to the best of their abilities. For their upcoming test, they would need to perform all ten color belt forms consecutively under Glynda's orders.

"It'll be a lot of nonstop motions," Blake warned them all. "So the most important thing to remember is to breathe. Don't rush through them, either. You'll tire yourselves out even faster, and you'll _already_ be tired from the other parts of the test.

"It looks better if we all stay together; if we don't, Instructor Glynda will have us start over again, and that's more energy wasted. So let's get into the habit of moving together at the same pace."

Since Ren was the person with the most controlled motions and graceful stances, she requested he demonstrate one of the forms for them. He didn't blur motions together, but gave them each a clear-cut ending before continuing on to the next one.

Blake helped the others match his pace and stay together whenever they practiced in preparation for the upcoming test.

Yang was more or less in charge of the kicking combinations, giving tips for all of them to remember which combo went with which belt.

"If we screw up the order, it's gonna look bad," she warned. "So make sure you know which one is for each belt."

Pyrrha tended to help out with the self-defense techniques, assisting her friends with deep stretches and muscle training in order to help them aim their counterattacks more precisely and make their motions more impressive.

Nora was the one who was most enthusiastic about their breaking techniques for the black belt test.

"We can choose our own!" she reminded them. "So make sure it's something _cool_ but it's also something you're _good_ at so you can break all the boards on the first time and not mess up!"

They all worked together to decide on what would be their best individual board breakings. Most chose different combinations of higher-level kicks like flying side-kick, spinning hook-kick, or 360-degree back-kicks.

Nora and Yang were determined to do power breaks, which involved three or four boards and breaking them all with a single hit. Ruby was more focused on spinning or jumping kicks, while Blake and Weiss were focusing on the grace of their executions.

And every day just before their classes ended, Weiss would get everyone's attention and give them small mental knowledge tests. She'd have them all kneel down in a line and choose a random color belt meaning to recite, and whomever didn't know it she would order to do push-ups until they could recite the entire thing.

Weiss had the authority to give punishments for this – bestowed upon her by Glynda herself – and so everyone took this portion of their training a bit more seriously than the others.

Weiss was in charge of making sure all eight of them could recite every belt meaning in order and without tripping up. She also asked the questions associated with each individual belt and made sure they could all recite each and every answer perfectly while staying together as well.

For many of them, the mental knowledge was the most difficult part, but after a month of enforced training with Weiss, they were all improving quite a bit.

During the final three weeks before their black belt test, all eight of the candidates were sure to focus on the upcoming test in every way possible.

Weiss checked to ensure they were all getting finished with their essays and would have all ten of them finished on time for their testing date.

Before they knew it, it was their last day before the fast would begin.

Ruby, Weiss, Blake, and Yang didn't have their taekwondo classes that day, so they once more stayed at the Rose-Xiao Long residence and had a small party to prepare. They went out to a double dinner date at a restaurant and ate their favorite dishes, savoring the flavors as best they could so it may hold them over for the fasting.

When they returned, Summer made her final batch of cookies for them to enjoy.

"Ish gonna be tuff!" Ruby mumbled in between her sixth and seventh cookie. "But I'm gonna do it!"

Eleven days before their black belt test, the eight candidates each brought Ozpin a single raw egg. Their task was to carry it with them everywhere they'd be going for the next ten days – school, work, home, the shower, out for a walk, or anywhere else they might go.

Glynda explained all of this to them.

"The egg tradition is a task of responsibility," she declared. "If you neglect to bring it anywhere with you and you are caught without it, you will not be permitted to test in ten days' time. Master Ozpin is signing your eggs to ensure you can't switch them for new ones.

"You may place your eggs in a cushioned container with bubble wrap to secure it, but you may not open this container until the day of your test. If it is opened that day and we discover damage to your egg, you alone will not be permitted to proceed with the test."

There were a few audible gulps all around, but for the most part, the students were all determined not to let any harm come to their eggs.

After Ozpin had signed them all, they wrapped them up securely before sealing them away in containers and taking them home.

The following day began their fast at noon, and Yang was the witness to confirm that Ruby had been stuffing one final cookie into her mouth at 11:59AM.

Instead of cereal or a sandwich as a snack before taekwondo, Ruby and Yang ate bananas and pears now.

"Y'know," Ruby said. "This isn't so bad! It'll be easy!"

She'd said as much to Blake and Weiss that evening during classes as well.

"I had a pear for a snack and I'm probably gonna have another one and a banana for dinner! This'll be a piece of cake! ...Well, not really. Can't have cake, haha."

The other three shared amused glances with one another, sharing silent thoughts of what was to come.

Surely enough, only one day later, Ruby was dragging her feet as she entered the dojang to take class. Weiss had to bite back a chuckle as she watched her girlfriend limping dramatically.

"So what did you eat today, Ruby?" she wondered. "When you texted me this morning, I think you'd said you'd had an apple and an orange? What was for lunch?"

"Grapes..." she groaned. " _Just_ grapes. I don't know if I'll survive this class, Weiss. I might die."

"It's only the second day of the fast, Ruby. Don't die so early. At least wait another three days," she teased.

Ruby whined and slumped against her.

As a lover of salads and vegetables, Weiss was getting along just fine with her fasting, and although Blake was beginning to miss tuna and Yang was missing meats, they were both getting by fairly well.

What held them over best of all was the thought of finishing their test and being able to break it in the end. But that was still a long way off.

For now, they took their class and reviewed everything they could within the forty-five minutes.

It was Weiss who remembered to take her egg along with her out of the dojang to the changing rooms, and the others quickly followed her lead; had they forgotten to bring their eggs out of the room with them, they would have been penalized by Ozpin directly.

The respective pairs shared kisses before parting ways; Yang drove Ruby back home and Weiss went with Blake to be dropped off.

Throughout the evening they texted one another. Weiss recived the messages like ' _I'm so hungry, I want cookies so baaad'_ while Blake was getting the ones like ' _Seeing Ruby so exasperated like this is taking my mind off of my own hunger!'_

Somehow, they managed to make it through the first five days, and the final half were winding down toward their black belt test.

Each day brought them closer and closer to their test, and seeing their classmates in taekwondo showed just how anxious all of them were.

But they had perfected their techniques as best they could. Now, when they did their forms, they all took their time and stayed together, moving like one person rather than eight. As per Blake's instructions, they focused on breathing and grace.

Despite how physically weakened they all were by their fasting, Yang had ensured no one had forgotten their kicking combinations, and Pyrrha kept on top of their self-defense.

Weiss was mildly impressed that they all had managed to finish their essays and even knew the mental knowledge well enough to not be punished with push-ups.

Another day passed, and then another.

Jaune had almost dropped his egg once, but only by Pyrrha's warning and his own dumb luck had he managed to catch it. Nora had tied a pink bow around her egg's container and decided she'd name it "Yoko".

"After I break this fast," she'd declared. "I'm gonna eat him!"

Ren had been the one to calmly explain to her how bad of an idea that would be.

Yang had almost forgotten to bring her egg with her once before she'd left the house, and Ruby had quite literally dragged her back inside to grab it, wailing: "If Weiss finds out you forgot it, she'll punish you even worse than Head Instructor Glynda herself!"

The candidates grew hungrier and more anxious by the hour, but perhaps just a bit more mindful of everything.

On Thursday night – two days before their test – they were more excited than anything else. Thursday night was their final class before the test, as they were taking Friday off to prepare themselves.

At the end of the evening, Ozpin wished them all the best of luck.

"I'll see you all here on Saturday, bright and early."

"Yes, sir!" they all shouted.

The following day, Ruby, Yang, and their girlfriends decided to go on another double date to take their minds off of the stress and hunger. The sisters woke groggily and ate a measly breakfast of fruits and more fruits, and all the while Ruby moaned.

"After this fast, I'm never gonna eat another fruit ever again."

"Don't let Weiss hear you say that," Yang chuckled.

They got dressed, grabbed their eggs, and headed outside.

It was a sunny, cool day, and they enjoyed the fresh air a bit as Yang ushered Ruby to the car.

They picked Blake up first, and seeing one another dressed in the more comfortable, casual clothing rather than the loose, baggy uniforms made them realize the effects this fast was having on all of them.

Ruby got out of the car to move to the back seat, so Blake could sit next to Yang. The Faunus girl greeted the brunette with a smile.

"How are you guys holding up on our last day before the test?" she wondered.

"Hungryyyy..." Ruby whined.

"You don't have to tell me," the Faunus chuckled.

With her egg's container in her handbag, she sat down in the passenger's seat beside Yang and they took of toward Weiss' house.

The white-haired girl was standing outside the front door, adorning a light blue dress. Yang honked the horn and Ruby eagerly got out in order to hold Weiss' door open for her.

"Mornin'!" Ruby beamed, instantly perky again at the sight of her girlfriend. "Got your egg?"

"What kind of a question is that?" Weiss snapped. "Of course I do!"

"Just checking~"

Ruby knew Weiss was being a bit more short-tempered than usual, but it was easily blamed on the hunger and anxiety about tomorrow.

Ruby moved to the middle seat in the back of the car so she may be directly beside Weiss. Looking over her girlfriend's features, Ruby could tell now that Weiss had lost a bit of weight, perhaps more than the rest of them had. Her cheekbones had sunk in a bit, and despite the makeup, there were detectable dark circles under her eyes. Ozpin had said that was proof a person was fasting properly and not cheating.

Weiss' pale skin showed the circles off more easily, but Ruby had never cheated in her fast. She knew that if she did – even if no one else knew about it – she'd never live it down, and would never forgive herself. She probably would have lived with the guilt for months before realizing she hadn't earned her black belt and would surrender it to Ozpin.

Presently, she shuddered at the thought. A few days of self-control without cookies was very simple as opposed to the stress and guilt that would come of breaking her fast.

Still, she was glad tomorrow was the last day.

"Just one more day..." she sighed, leaning into Weiss' side. Her girlfriend's shoulder felt bonier than usual, and Ruby wrapped her in a gentle hug.

"Yeah..." Yang sighed. " Just one more day and this'll all be over. After the test is over, our parents are gonna drive us out to a buffet! But that's tomorrow if we all pass. For today, we gotta enjoy ourselves!"

She stretched her right arm out and draped it around Blake's shoulders for a second until all three of them demanded she use both hands to drive.

Yang took them to a local theater, as they'd decided that a movie would help distract them from their hunger and the accumulating stress about tomorrow.

Weiss checked to ensure they all had their eggs in their purses and handbags before she allowed them to exit the car.

Hand-in-hand, the two couples walked up the stairs and into the theater. They purchased their tickets, and while the scent of buttery popcorn was extremely tantalizing, they had no choice but to ignore it.

Weiss bought them all bottles of water instead. It was Blake who spotted the little ice machine on the food counter.

"Let's get some," she said. "At least it'll give us something to chew on, and we won't be breaking our fast."

Yang grabbed some plastic cups and one by one, they all filled them with ice. Ruby seemed content to have something she could munch on during the film, while Weiss was content simply to let each cube melt in her mouth.

They sat in the row behind Blake and Yang; past experience has demonstrated how sitting in front of Yang during a movie proved to be a bad idea. The only way to avoid mood-shattering mumbles and comments from the blonde was to sit three or more rows ahead of her, far off to one side of her, or behind her.

They took their respective seats and popped an occasional ice cube into their mouths to satisfy the urge to eat something. Ruby was simply enthralled to have Weiss to herself for a few hours, and she slipped her arm around her girlfriend's shoulders and leaned into her again.

Only because the lights were off and no one they knew was watching did Weiss lean back toward her with a sigh.

It was only an hour into the movie when Blake and Yang started stealing kisses, and Ruby couldn't help herself either. Weiss' lips were chillier than usual, and she attested it to the ice cubes they'd both been eating. It was unusual, but still enjoyable nonetheless.

Paying attention to the movie's plot became second priority for a while as they shared kisses and leaned cheeks on shoulders.

By the end of the film, Blake turned back to inform them that Yang had fallen asleep on her. The Faunus girl shrugged and gently patted the blonde awake. Weiss scoffed about how "Had it been any of the rest of us falling asleep, Yang would've dropped ice cubes down our shirts..."

When they exited the theater, it was afternoon time, and the girls went for a short walk around town. But they retreated back to the car before long, not wanting to exhaust themselves too much on their final day before the test.

As Yang drove them back to her house, she yawned a promise to them all: "We'll have a better double-date on Sunday when we can all eat again."

The sisters invited Blake and Weiss to stay the night so they may all prepare for tomorrow and get to their test on time to begin it, and it was an easy offer to accept.

Lying in bed alone at night after the hour appropriate for texting only served to make them all more nervous about their upcoming test, so having others with them tonight would undoubtedly quell some of those anxieties.

At her offer, dinner was prepared by Weiss, and she ordered the others to wait in the living room and watch TV. She ended up presenting them all with large glasses of blended fruit smoothies.

"It's all fruit and ice," she informed them. "So nothing against our fast. It's easy to swallow and quite filling. This is how I've been surviving these past nine days."

As the others took their first sips, they started to react immediately.

"Wow!" Blake's ears perked tall. "This is really good. That's a clever idea, Weiss."

"Not bad at all!" Yang agreed.

"It's kinda sugary!" Ruby smiled. "Like from the fruit sugar. It's yummy!"

"I'm glad."

What Weiss hand't told them in front of Ruby was that she'd also added in a few vegetables, the taste of which was overpowered by the taste of bananas and apples.

They relaxed for the rest of the evening before deciding to head to bed early, lest their nerves get to them. They all took turns taking their eggs and a change of clothes into the bathroom to get dressed in their sleepwear. Yang was the last to do so.

Ruby and Weiss had just been crawling up into the top bunk bed and Blake had been settling into the bottom one when they all heard a shriek. Instantly, Blake rushed to the bathroom and pushed in the door.

"Yang? What's wrong?"

She found the blonde in a panic, cradling her egg's container.

"Shit...!" she hissed. "Was putting my pajamas on and I accidentally hit it and it fell! What if I broke it?" she fretted.

Blake was more relieved to discover Yang hadn't hurt herself somehow, but this was still a matter not to be taken lightly. Blake knelt down beside her and slipped an arm around Yang, peering over her shoulder to look at her egg. It was hard to see past the bubble wrap, and they weren't allowed to open the container until the test tomorrow, but from what Blake could discern, there was no liquid leaking out.

"It's fine," she reassured. "A little fall like that wouldn't have cracked it."

"But what if it _did?_ " Yang mumbled. "The night before the damn test and I break it-"

"Yang, clam down." Blake's ears went flat; she knew her girlfriend was only overreacting this way due to the piled-up hunger, stress, and fatigue. Yang couldn't do anything but try to convince herself she'd failed.

"I can't believe I-"

"Yang, listen to me." Blake forced the blonde to look up at her, holding the sides of her face firmly. "You're _fine_. Don't worry, okay?"

Yang tried her best to believe Blake's words. In the end, she simply hung her head and nodded.

Blake helped her up, and Yang cradled her egg to her chest as they limped back into the bedroom. Ruby and Weiss guessed what had happened and were quiet until Blake flashed them a smile. They understood that everything was fine.

"Still," Weiss murmured. "It's a shame this had to happen tonight of all nights..."

Yang put her egg beside the others on a small table in the room before Blake coaxed her into bed and turned off the light. Ruby and Weiss called goodnights to them, but only Blake replied before turning her full attention back to Yang.

"Hey," she whispered. "Like I said, you're fine, Yang. You're going to worry yourself sick the night before the test."

"But what if-"

Blake was having no more of this. She cut Yang off with a sweet, gentle kiss, hoping it would be enough to convince Yang she had nothing to worry about.

Yang seemed dazed for a moment, but her hands gradually found their way around Blake's back and squeezed her tightly.

Blake released a small purr, pressing close to Yang to let her feel it for a few minutes. Then, she tucked Yang's head beneath her chin, distracting her girlfriend from the worrying thoughts and urging her to relax.

Yang was too exhausted to do otherwise, so she succumbed to sleep to the sound of Blake's purr. Blake kissed her hair before relaxing and leaning toward sleep as well.

Above them, Ruby and Weiss stayed awake for a while longer. Weiss was lying on her back, Ruby's head rested over her left shoulder with an arm draped across her stomach. Weiss hadn't even attempted to close her eyes yet, and Ruby wasn't trying either.

For a while, it was just soft breathing before Weiss murmured to her.

"Tomorrow's the day... After six years. I can't believe it..." she sighed. "Six years since I met you. Who'd have thought we'd end up here?"

The memories of her very first meeting with Ruby the day of her own white belt test came flooding back to Weiss. She couldn't keep the fond smile off of her face as she relived the moments they'd shared together over the years.

As Weiss reminisced, Ruby closed her eyes and was able to detect the faint thump of her heartbeat. She listened for a while, committing Weiss' pulse to memory a hundred times over before she spoke up.

"Are you nervous...?"

Weiss sighed a little.

"Of course I am. Who wouldn't be?"

Ruby nuzzled closer.

"Well, I feel if there was anyone who wouldn't be nervous, it'd be you."

"Please," Weiss scoffed. "I'm a wreck."

"Me too." Ruby yawned and curled closer, sharing her warmth with Weiss. The white-haired girl closed her eyes at long last.

"We'll be fine," she promised. "All of us. Tomorrow will be amazing."

Ruby fell asleep with those words in her ears.

She'd wake the next morning to anticipate they would come true.

* * *

Ruby was the first to wake and the others followed shortly afterward.

They grabbed their eggs and got changed, brushed their teeth and swallowed down some more of Weiss' fruit smoothies.

Ruby's parents drove the four of them to the dojang, and Weiss checked and re-checked that they all had their eggs with them.

When they arrived, the four girls rushed into the school to find only Ozpin, Glynda and the other instructors were present. They anxiously bowed and greeted them as they pulled off their socks and shoes and stepped onto the dojang.

The usual table had been set up in front for Ozpin to sit at during a belt test, but this time there was a decorative backdrop spread behind it as well. The images were of cranes and tall grasses, a tranquil scene meant to ease the candidates' minds today.

They scurried into the changing rooms to put on their uniforms, and were joined by Pyrrha and Nora only a few minutes later. Pyrrha insisted to initiate one final "good luck group hug" and pulled them all in.

"We'll do grandly today!" she declared.

"Yeah!" Nora agreed. "Then we can all eat our eggs afterward!"

Pyrrha promised to keep an eye on her to ensure she wouldn't do that.

Blake could tell Yang was still nervous about her egg, and she kissed her to calm her down. Weiss took the opportunity to peck Ruby's cheek as well.

"Best of luck," she murmured. Ruby hugged her tightly for a moment before pulling away.

"Let's do this!" she declared.

They exited the changing room, egg containers in-hand.

Nora, Pyrrha and the boys were already in the dojang, stretching out. Ruby and the others put their eggs on the counter beside theirs and joined them.

Blake's parents arrived shortly afterward, followed by Weiss' father and her sister.

Only then did things really begin to settle in.

 _This_ was the day they'd been training for for the past six years.

Glynda's call for attention had all eight candidates standing instantly. They retrieved their eggs and filed into a line, each person going up to Ozpin where he sat at the table.

He opened each container to inspect the eggs, ensuring they weren't damaged. Ren was the first to go, and Ozpin cleared him, followed by Nora and then Pyrrha. Jaune nearly dropped his egg while handing it to the master, but just barely managed to save it. Ozpin cleared him as well.

Ruby was next, and Ozpin smiled as he gave her the okay to proceed with the test.

Weiss naturally was cleared as well.

Blake was next, and she was commended by Ozpin for her care of the egg.

Finally, Yang bowed and presented him with her container. She was fretting so badly she was already convinced she'd failed.

But Ozpin smiled and held up her undamaged egg for her to see.

"Good job, Miss Rose-Long."

With that, Glynda announced that all eight candidates had passed the first portion of the test. Their families and friends cheered for them as Glynda organized them for the next part.

"Next, you will begin your testing warm-up. One-hundred laps around the room."

They all knew this was coming. Ozpin himself had told them this was part of the test, and they had practiced with up to 50 laps a day in their usual classes just to prepare.

But now it was the full hundred laps, and this was actually part of the mental portion of the test rather than the physical.

After ten days of fasting, all of them were clearly tired and hungry, but Ozpin wanted to see which of them gave up and stopped running, which of them didn't believe they could do it.

He gave the order, and they started to run.

Nora was at the head of the group, and every time she passed the head table, she shouted out the number of their lap. The others repeated after her as loudly as their voices could manage.

The other black belts joined in to run with them, occasionally offering words of encouragement or holding out their hands for high-fives as the runners passed. It was exciting for Velvet and her friends as well; after today, they'd have new classmates in the black belt classes.

Ruby feared the running would be difficult, but surprisingly enough, she found that she didn't start to wear down until they were already halfway finished. She just kept telling herself _'just one more lap, just one more lap...'_ She refused to give up and break out of line to start walking – all of them did.

Whenever Ruby stumbled or became too breathless, Yang was right behind her to pat her back and give her a push. Blake and Weiss tried to keep their mouths closed to refrain from panting for as long as possible, but by the time they'd reached the seventies it was impossible.

It took them almost twenty minutes of paced running to reach lap ninety, and by that point it was clear just how close they were to being finished with portion of the test.

Coco and the other black belts ran alongside them. "Run the final five!" she hollered. "Sprint 'em as fast as you can!"

They did their best, running at top speed to finish up the final stretch of the running. The second Ruby shouted the "one hundred!" after Nora's voice, she all but limped to a stop.

The eight of them slowed down to walk themselves off the runner's high, and all the while the audience was clapping for them. Glynda permitted them to get drinks of water and insisted it wasn't necessary to take their eggs with them.

They limped and stumbled back into the changing rooms for a one-minute water break. Ruby was shaking so badly she couldn't open her bottle, so Weiss did it for her. In between labored gasps, the white-haired girl managed to speak.

"We did it..." she huffed. "I'd say... that was probably... the hardest part."

"Don't forget..." Blake grunted. "Sparring's next."

Ruby straightened up a bit at that.

They all sat on the bench or on the floor for a moment. Pyrrha and Yang went into the bathroom to run paper towels under cold water and distributed them to the other girls who gratefully accepted. Weiss ensured no one drank too much, lest they give themselves cramps.

Before they needed to head back out, the girls met in more hugs.

Pyrrha and Nora's hug was a bit more enthusiastic, as it was the embrace of good friends.

Blake and Yang's was a bit more tender, as the Faunus girl purred against her girlfriend's chest. "We've all made it through the first two parts," she reminded her. "Just three more to go."

"Right..." Yang sighed. "Sparring, curriculum, and breaking. We got this... Totally."

As soon as Weiss was finished with her drink, Ruby squeezed her into a hug as well. She could feel Weiss' heart still thundering even rougher than her own was, and Ruby rested her chin on the girl's shoulder.

"Gosh, your heart's pounding..." she mumbled. "All that running wore me out, too."

"Let's hope not," Weiss mumbled. "Your favorite part's up next."

They shared a small kiss, both to motivate and congratulate each other for making it this far.

Then, they all started putting on their sparring gear.

The sparring matches were each one minute long, and each candidate had to spar all of the others. Essentially, they were all looking at seven consecutive matches.

That was almost triple the usual amount of a tournament.

When they were all ready and in their gear, Glynda called them back out to pair them up.

Ruby was facing Yang first, and they both thought it was appropriate. Being two of the school's top sparrers, they could each go all-out on one another when they still had the most energy.

Ruby didn't hold back - not on her sister, not on her friends, and certainly not on her girlfriend. Weiss would've smacked her if Ruby had gone lightly on her.

By their fifth matches, everyone was draining quickly, and the final two were just to prove they could keep on their feet if they believed that they could.

After fifteen minutes, Ozpin determined the sparring portion over. The candidates went back to the changing rooms to shed their gear and drink once more.

"Getting there..." Blake panted. "The worst is over. From here on out... it's just the curriculum."

Yang grinned.

"Peace of ca-"

"No!"

The unanimous groan came from all of the other girls present.

The blonde chuckled sheepishly, and Weiss flicked water into her face.

They threw off their gear and shoved it back into their bags. Already, an hour and a half had passed since they'd begun their test.

Now it was time to prove how hard they'd practiced together as a team.

The hand techniques took another ten minutes, and kicking combinations took twenty. It had been a lot easier to stay together during classes, but after fasting for ten days, running a hundred laps, and sparring for nearly half an hour, it was a challenge to keep themselves organized.

Weiss had to mutter little hisses to whomever was out of line or moving too quickly or slowly, lest Glynda have them all start over for being sloppy.

By some miracle, it never got that bad; the others made sure to shape up, because if Glynda disapproved of their performance, it was on Weiss' shoulders. And Weiss wouldn't be happy about anything short of their best possible execution of techniques at this point.

But it seemed they'd all get to keep their heads as they finished up the final kicking combinations. They were given another moment to rest and stretch out before diving into the forms.

Doing all ten in a row was no easy feat, especially after everything else they'd done within the past two hours. Blake just uttered a quick reminder to them all before they began.

"Take your time and breathe."

They began the forms, reminding themselves to follow her advice and control their breath. Every stance was clear and every motion was as powerful as they could muster. Their collective motions and maintained pacing made up for the little mistakes here and there, and gave them an overall impressive appearance.

By the time they finished the tenth form, everyone was breathless, but it only went to show how hard they'd all worked.

Self-defense techniques were immediately afterward, and they all got into pairs by gender and height, putting the boys together and the girls with their respective partners.

There was a total of ten belts' worth of self-defense techniques, most of which had 2 parts each, and both sides needed to attack and defend.

That portion alone took them into their third hour.

They were permitted a brief period of rest and meditation before they began their breaking. Each candidate was required to perform three consecutive higher-level breaks.

Popular choices had any combination of power breaks, running or jumping kicks, hook kicks or tornado kicks. Each person chose their technique based on their own personal strengths.

Weiss and Pyrrha focused on precision, Nora and Yang on power, Ren and Blake on grace, while Ruby and Jaune fell somewhere in between. They all walked away with sore hands and feet, but presented their broken boards to their proud families.

When they were called back to the dojang, Glynda had them all line up and kneel down to being the mental knowledge – the final part of their test.

Ozpin had them all recite every belt meaning from no-belt to black belt candidate. The eight of them spoke slowly and clearly, staying together and speaking loudly.

Once they'd finished those, Ozpin began asking them questions individually. It had been a lot for all of them to study, as they'd all needed to know every answer to every question in case Ozpin called on them for that one.

Weiss ended up reciting the longest paragraphs word for word, as she was most confident in doing so. However, she was pleasantly surprised to see Yang put herself on the spot and gave it her best shot, as well. She missed a few words and stammered a bit here and there, but overall, everyone was very impressed, Ozpin included.

After Weiss' rigorous training to have them all study everything until they knew it by heart, all eight of them passed the mental knowledge portion of the test.

And then Ozpin stood from his table.

The lights were dimmed as Port and Oobleck brought out eight bags from the staff's office, and presented each candidate with one of them.

Inside were brand new black uniforms that only black belts received.

"Congratulations," Ozpin addressed them. "All of you have passed today's test. Now if you'd please go change into your new uniforms so we may wrap things up."

It was all they could do not to run back into the changing rooms at top speed. Even Weiss had a bounce in her step as she followed the others, and Blake was the one pulling Yang along behind her.

Until now, all they had worn were white uniforms, but they discovered black was so much more appealing.

Yang fixed her ponytail as she watched the others observing their reflections in the mirror.

"Hot damn, Blake! You're so handsome!"

"I knew you'd look awesome in black!" Ruby agreed.

"I still think Weiss looks best," the Faunus girl said.

With her ivory-white hair, Weiss looked alluringly slim and beautiful in the black, despite the looseness of the uniform without a belt around her waist.

"It's going to take some getting used to," she commented, looking Ruby over.

"I think we all look swell!" Nora put in. "I'll bet Ren looks awesome!"

"I do have to wonder about Jaune, though..." Pyrrha mused.

When they'd all finished, the girls took a collective breath. Pyrrha and Nora hugged once more, Blake taking the chance to kiss Yang full on the lips. Ruby pulled Weiss in to her and rested their foreheads together.

"We did it..." she murmured. "We made it. All of us. Together."

Weiss merely nodded and kissed her softly.

"We've earned this."

They came together in a familiar embrace and held it for a moment. When they parted, the others were waiting for them.

"Let's go," Ruby said.

They met up with the boys outside, all dressed in black and without belts, and the eight of them re-entered the dojang. Calming music was playing on the stereo, the lights slightly dimmed as Glynda instructed them to sit in a line facing the head table.

They performed a standing bow, and then a kneeling bow, one only used in rare circumstances such as these. It showed the utmost respect to Ozpin as their master, and he returned the bow unto them.

He then beckoned them forward in pairs, handing them each a cup of cool cinnamon tea. They were required by tradition to drink it all as the first sign of breaking their fast.

Ruby did her best not to gulp it all down, the cool sweetness tickling her throat pleasantly as she knelt beside Weiss. Once they finished and put their cups down, they bowed to Ozpin once more before going back into line.

Finally, he asked them all to stand.

Glynda handed him the brand new black belts in turn, embroidered in gold with each student's name.

Weiss was the first person he called forward. As he tied the belt around her waist, he spoke proudly to her.

"Miss Schnee. I commend your perseverance over these past six years. From day one, you have excelled in the mental aspects of this martial art, and that is the most important thing."

Weiss blinked back tears of sheer emotion and bowed to him.

"Thank you, sir."

She stepped back into line, and Ozpin called Yang forward next.

"Miss Rose-Long. Your kicking is some of the best I've ever seen in all my years. Your willpower is second to none, and your vigor is incomparable."

Yang bowed as well as he finished tying her belt.

"Thank you, sir."

Blake was next.

"Miss Belladonna. Your grace and balance are only two of your most valuable aspects. Your kind heart will take you very far in life."

Blake dipped her head and bit her lip to stop it from trembling.

"Thank you, sir."

Then, he called Ruby. She was shaking and already crying as he tied her belt around her waist.

"Miss Ruby Rose-Long. Your positivity is something very rare to find these days. Your boundless energy and excitement are a pleasure to have in anyone's presence."

Ruby put her hands to her face and sobbed.

"Th-Thank you, sir!"

She stepped back into line in between Weiss and Yang, tucking into her sister's side to cry softly. Weiss patted her back, wiping her own eyes and chuckling softly. Blake wrapped an arm around the white-haired girl's side, and they all let a few tears slip as Ozpin called up the other four testing students to congratulate them.

After that, there was a full moment of applause as Ozpin had his newest black belts turn around to face the audience.

"It is my pleasure," he said. "To welcome these fine new black belts into my school. They have acted with honor, respect, and the utmost discipline to get to where they are today, and it has been my pleasure to watch them grow and hone their skills over the years. I look forward to seeing you all in class."

The eight of them turned back to him and bowed simultaneously.

"Yes, sir!"

After that, their upperclassmen joined them for group hugs and pictures and congratulatory words and little speeches.

They went to their parents next.

Ruby and Yang threw themselves into their mother and father's arms respectively, while Blake's parents hugged their only daughter together. Weiss' father had long since opened up to her, and welcomed her into his arms, and Winter patted her head.

Then, the four girls came back together in a massive group hug. Yang ended up lifting the three of them up off the floor despite Weiss' protests.

The blonde ended up stumbling, and they all went down in a pile of limbs and ponytails. Weiss tried to wrestle herself away, but Ruby hugged her and kissed her hard enough to make her willingly relent. Blake kissed her girlfriend as well, ears flicking happily.

Finally, they all pushed themselves up, helping the others to their feet.

"Come on!" Ruby exclaimed. "We gotta go _eat!_ "

"Oh god, that's right!" Yang gasped. "We're free to eat! Let's go get changed!"

"Hopefully Nora hasn't eaten our eggs!" Blake laughed.

Together, they hurried back to the changing rooms, slipping off their black belts and uniforms and folding them with care.

They changed back into their casual clothes, stomachs growling and smiles bright and eager. They grabbed their bags and hurried out together, bowing once more to their instructors and wishing goodbyes to their friends.

Their parents chatted a bit as the four girls sat down and put on their socks and shoes, then finished drinking their bottles of water.

When she saw that no one was watching, Ruby leaned in and stole another kiss from Weiss. Yang followed her little sister's lead and pulled Blake into her lap, kissing her tenderly.

When they parted, Blake was the first one to speak.

"I can't believe we really made it this far."

"Really?" Weiss quirked an eyebrow. "I never doubted it for a second."

"Six years, huh?" Yang smiled. "I wonder how many more we'll be here for."

"Probably forever!" Ruby decided, her silver eyes meeting all of their gazes. "I mean, this is only the beginning, after all. Everything up until black belt is only just the _basics_ of taekwondo! There's still so much more to learn!"

Weiss, Blake, and Yang all nodded in agreement.

"You're absolutely right."

"This is just the beginning."

"I can't wait to see what's next!"

They joined together in one more group hug, warm and soft, hearts beating excitedly as one.

They were all comfortable in knowing this was something they held dear to them. It was something they were passionate about, and they would do anything to keep it in their lives.

On and off the mats, they would always be Ozpin's students, and would live by his ways to better themselves and others in every way possible.

They had learned so much from one another, and had grown in teaching and helping others.

They had found a passion of the sport, the confidence of showmanship, the acceptance of companionship, and the tenderness of love.

And this was only the beginning.

When they broke apart, there were a few more kisses shared between them before their parents beckoned them over.

Ruby jumped up, and the others followed after her.

They smiled, laughed and followed after her, her joyful words ringing out:

"Let's go eat!"

* * *

 **A/N: It was difficult to squish all the elements of a black belt test (at least my school's style) into this final chapter here, but I did my best! Taekwondo really is an amazing sport~**

 **If you like my work, you can support me on as Kiria Alice!**

 **Please review!**


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